THE  FUTURE  OF 
THE  AMERICAN  NEGRO 


1 


THE  FUTURE  OF  '^ 
THE  AMERICAN  NEGRO 

Booker  T.  Washington 


Boston 

Small,  Maynard  &  Company 
1899 

CINCINNATI 
UNIVERSITY 
LIBRARY 


Copyright, 
By  Small,  Maynard  &  Company 

(Incorporated} 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall 


STACK 


Press  of 
George  //.  ^///V, 


Reproduced  by 

DUOPAGE  PROCESS 

.in  the 
U.S.  of  America 


The  original  of  this  book  is 

in  the  collection  of  the 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CINCINNATI 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 


micRo  PHOTO  Division 

1700  SHAW  AVE.  CLEVELAND.  OHIO  44112 


EELL&HaLUELL 


125 


;  J 


To 
REV.  H.  B.  FRISSELL,  D.D., 

Principal  of  the 
Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute, 

Hampton,  Virginia, 

My  friend  and  the  successor  of 

General  S.  C.  Armstrong, 

This  volume  is 

Dedicated. 


PREFACE. 

In  giving  this  volume  to  the  public, 
I  deem  it  fair  to  say  that  I  have  yielded 
to  the  oft-repeated  requests  that  I  put  in 
some  more  dcjinite  and  permanent  form 
the  ideas  regarding  the  Negro  and  his 
future  which  I  have  expressed  many 
times  on  tlie  public  platform  and  through 
the  public  press  and  magazines. 

I  make  grateful  acknowledgment  to 
tlie  "Atlantic  Monthly"  and  " Apple- 
ton  s  Popular  Science  Monthly "  for 
tlieir  kindness  in  granting  permission 
for  tlie  use  of  some  part  of  articles 
which  I  have  at  various  times  contrib 
uted  to  their  columns. 

•      BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON. 


TUSKXGKB  NORMAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  INSTITUTE, 
TUSKEGRK,  ALA.,  October  i,  1899. 


CONTENTS. 

Chapter  I.      .......     Page 

First  appearance  of  Negroes  in  America 
—  Rapid  increase  —  Conditions  during 
Civil  War — During  the  reconstruction. 


Chapter  II Page       16 

Responsibility  of  the  whole  country  for 
the  Negro  —  Progress  in  the  past  —  Same 
methods  of  education  do  not  fit  all  cases  — 
Proved  in  the  case  of  the  Southern  Negro 
—  Illustrations  —  Lack  of  money  —  Com 
parison  between  outlay  for  schools  North 
and  South  —  Duty  of  North  to  South. 


Chapter  III Page       42 

Decadence  of  Southern  plantation  — 
Demoralization  of  Negroes  natural  —  No 
home  life  before  the  war  —  Too  much 
classical  education  at  the  start —  Lack  of 
practical  training  —  Illustrations  —  The 
well-trained  slaves  now  dead  —  Former 
plantations  as  industrial  schools  —  The 
decayed  plantation  built  up  by  a  former 
slave  —  Misunderstanding  of  industrial 
education. 

vii 


Contents 


Chapter  IV. Page       67 

The  Negroes*  proper  use  of  education  — 
Hayti,  Santo  Domingo,  and  Liberia  as 
illustrations  of  the  lack  of  practical  train 
ing —  Present  necessity  for  union  of  all 
forces  to  further  the  cause  of  industrial 
education — Industrial  education  not  op 
posed  to  the  higher  education  —  Results 
of  practical  training  so  far  —  Little  or  no 
prejudice  against  capable  Negroes  in  busi 
ness  in  the  South  —  The  Negro  at  first 
shunned  labor  as  degrading — Hampton 
and  Tuskegee  aim  to  remove  this  feeling 
—  The  South  does  not  oppose  industrial 
education  for  the  Negroes  —  Address  to 
Tuskegee  students  setting  forth  th.e  neces 
sity  of  steadfastness  of  purpose. 


Chapter  V.     .......     Page     106 

The  author's  early  life  —  At  Hampton 
—  The  inception  of  the  Tuskegee  School 
in  1881 — Its  growth  —  Scope  —  Size  at 
present  —  Expenses  —  Purposes  —  Meth 
ods —  Building  of  the  chapel  —  Work 
of  the  graduates  —  Similar  schools  be 
ginning  throughout  the  South  —  Tuske 
gee  Negro  Conference  —  The  Workers' 
Conference  —  Tuskegee  as  a  trainer  of 
teachers. 

viii 


Contents 


Chapter  VI Page     127 

The  Negro  race  in  politics  —  Its  patri 
otic  zeal  in  1776 — In  1814 — In  the 
Civil  War — In  the  Spanish  War — Poli 
tics  attempted  too  soon  after  freedom  — 
Poor  leaders  —  Two  parties  in  the  South, 
the  blacks'  and  the  whites1 —  Not  neces 
sarily  opposed  in  interests — The  Negro 
should  give  up  no  rights  —  The  same 
tests  for  [the  restriction  of  the  franchise 
should  be  applied  alike  to  both  blacks 
and  whites  —  This  is  not  the  case  —  Edu 
cation  and  the  franchise  —  The  whites 
must  help  the  blacks  to  pure  votes  —  Riot 
ing  and  lynching  only  to  be  stopped  by 
mutual  confidence. 


Chapter  VII Page     157 

Difficulty  of  fusion  —  Africa  impossible 
as  a  refuge  because  already  completely 
claimed  by  other  nations  —  Comparison 
of  Negro  race  with  white  —  Physical 
condition  of  the  Negro  —  Present  lack  of 
ability  to  organize  —  Weaknesses  —  Abil 
ity  to  work  —  Trustworthiness — Desire 
to  rise  —  Obstructions  put  in  the  way  of 
Negroes'  advancement  —  Results  of  op 
pression —  Necessity  for  encouragement 
and  self-respect  —  Comparison  of  Ne- 

iz 


Contents 


groes'  position  and  that  of  the  Jews  — 
Lynching  —  Non  -  interference  of  the 
North  —  Increase  of  lynching — Statis 
tics  of  numbers,  races,  places,  causes  of 
violence  —  Uselessness  of  lynching  in 
preventing  crime  —  Fairness  in  carrying 
out  the  laws — Increase  of  crime  among 
the  Negroes —  Reason  for  it  —  Responsi 
bility  of  both  races. 


Chapter  VIII.     ......     Page     200 

Population  —  Emigration  to  the  North  — 
Morality  North  and  South  —  Dangers: 
I.  incendiary  advice ;  2.  mob  violence;  3. 
discouragement;  4.  newspaper  exaggera 
tion  ;  5.  lack  of  education ;  6.  bad  legis 
lation  —  Negroes  must  identify  with  best 
interests  of  the  South  —  Unwise  mission 
ary  work —  Wise  missionary  work — Op 
portunity  for  industrial  education  —  The 
good  standing  of  business-educated  Ne 
groes  in  the  South  —  Religion  and  moral 
ity —  Justice  and  appreciation  coming  for 
the  Negro  race  as  it  proves  itself  worthy. 


Wi}  Of 


'•     EH'vi'ON  r.j.  j|P.iaM  . ;•__ 

**•     — - — T-^f-^^TTT^- 


'^v»  ^n  :^>vVr}^  t 

•V1I8  R'VY'    -U-3  d?.? 

CHAPTER   I. 


IN  this  volume  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
give  the  origin  and  history  of  the  Negro 
race  either  in  Africa  or  in  America. 
My  attempt  is  to  deal  only  with  condi 
tions  that  now  exist  and  bear  a  relation 
to  the  Negro  in  America  and  that  are 
likely  to  exist  in  the  future.  In  discuss 
ing  the  Negro,  it  is  always  to  be  borne 
in  mind  that,  unlike  all  the  other  inhab 
itants  of  America,  he  came  here  with 
out  his  own  consent  ;  in  fact,  was  com 
pelled  to  leave  his  own  country  and 
become  a  part  of  another  through  phys 
ical  force.  It  should  also  be  borne  in 
mind,  in  our  efforts  to  change  and  im 
prove  the  present  condition  of  the  Negro, 
that  we  are  dealing  with  a  rare  which 
had  little  necessity  to  labour  in  its  na 
tive  country.  After  being  brought  to 
America,  the  Negroes  were  forced  to 
labour  for  about  250  years  under  circum 
stances  which  were  calculated  not  to 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

inspire  them  with  love  and  respect  for 
labour.  This  constitutes  a  part  of  the 
reason  wtvytj  insist  that  it  is  necessary 
to  emphasise  the  matter  of  industrial 
education  as  a  means  of  giving  the 
black  man  the  foundation  of  a  civilisa 
tion  upon  which  he  will  grow  and 
prosper.^When  I  speak  of  industrial 
education,  however,  I  wish  it  always 
understood  that  I  mean,  as  did  General 
Armstrong,  the  founder  of  the  Hamp 
ton  Institute,  for  thorough  academic 
and  religious  training  to  go  side  by 
side  with  industrial  training.  Mere 
training  of  the  hand  without  the  cult 
ure  of  brain  and  heart  would  mean 
little. 

The  first  slaves  were  brought  into 
this  country  by  the  Dutch  in  1619,  and 
were  landed  at  Jamestown,  Virginia. 
The  first  cargo  consisted  of  fourteen. 
The  census  taken  in  1890  shows  that 
these  fourteen  slaves  had  increased  to 
7,638,360.  About  6,353,341  of  this 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

number  were  residing  in  the  Southern 
States,  and  1,283,029  were  scattered 
throughout  the  Northern  and  Western 
States.  I  think  I  am  pretty  safe  in 
predicting  that  the  census  to  be  taken 
in  1900  will  show  that  there  are  not  far 
from  ten  millions  of  people  of  African 
descent  in  the  United  States.  The 
great  majority  of  these,  of  course,  re 
side  in  the  Southern  States.  ^The  prob 
lem  is  how  to  make  these  millions 
of  Negroes  self-supporting,  intelligent, 
economical  and  valuable  citizens,  as 
,vell  as  how  to  bring  about  proper  rela- 
lions  between  them  and  the  white  citi 
zens  among  whom  they  live.!  This  is 
the  question  upon  which  I  shall  try  to 
'.hrow  some  light  in  the  chapters  which 
follow. 

When,  the  Negroes  were  first  brought 
to  America,  they  were  owned  by  white 
people  in  all  sections  of  this  country,  as 
is  well  known, —  in  the  New  England, 
the  Middle,  and  in  the  Southern  States. 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

It  was  soon  found,  however,  that  slave 
labour  was  not  remunerative  in  the 
Northern  States,  and  for  that  reason  by 
far  the  greater  proportion  of  the  slaves 
were  held  in  the  Southern  States,  where 
their  labour  in  raising  cotton,  rice,  and 
sugar-cane  was  more  productive.  The 
growth  of  the  slave  population  in 
America  was  constant  and  rapid.  Be 
ginning,  as  I  have  stated,  with  fourteen, 
in  1619,  the  number  increased  at  such  a 
rate  that  the  total  number  of  Negroes 
in  America  in  1800  was  1,001,463. 
This  number  increased  by  1860  to 
3,950,000.  A  few  people  predicted  that 
freedom  would  result  disastrously  to 
the  Negro,  as  far  as  numerical  in 
crease  was  concerned;  but  so  far  the 
census  figures  have  failed  to  bear  out 
this  prediction.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
census  of  1880  shows  that  the  Negro 
population  had  increased  from  3,950,000 
in  1860  to  7,638,260  twenty-five  years 
after  the  war.  It  is  my  opinion  that  the 

6 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

rate  of  increase  in  the  future  will  be  still 
oreater  than  it  has  been  from  the  close 

v> 

of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  up  to  the 
present  time,  for  the  reason  that  the  very 
sudden  changes  which  took  place  in  the 
life  of  the  Negro,  because  of  having  his 
freedom,  plunged  him  into  many  ex 
cesses  that  were  detrimental  to  his 
physical  well-being.  Of  course,  freedom 
found  him  unprepared  in  clothing,  in 
shelter  and  in  knowledge  of  how  to  care 
for  his  body.  During  slavery  the  slave 
mother  had  little  control  of  her  own 
children,  and  did  not  therefore  have  the 
practice  and  experience  of  rearing  chil 
dren  in  a  suitable  manner.  Now  that 
the  Negro  is  being  taught  in  thousands 
of  schools  how  to  take  care  of  his  body, 
and  in  thousands  of  homes  mothers  are 
learning  how  to  control  their  children, 
I  believe  that  the  rate  of  increase,  as 
I  have  stated,  will  be  still  greater  than 
it  has  been  in  the  past.  In  too  many 
cases  the  Negro  had  the  idea  that  free- 

7 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

dom  meant  merely  license  to  do  as  he 
pleased,  to  work  or  not  to  work;  but 
this  erroneous  idea  is  more  and  more 
disappearing,  by  reason  of  the  education 
in  the  right  direction  which  the  Negro 
is  constantly  receiving. 

During  the  four  years  that  the  Civil 
War  lasted,  the  greater  proportion  of 
the  Negroes  remained  in  the  South, 
and  worked  faithfully  for  the  support  of 
their  masters'  families,  who,  as  a  general 
rule,  were  away  in  the  war.  The  self- 
control  which  the  Negro  exhibited  dur 
ing  the  war  marks,  it  seems  to  me,  one 
of  the  most  important  chapters  in  the 
history  of  the  race.  Notwithstanding 
he. knew  that  his  master  was  away  from 
home,  fighting  a  battle  which,  if  success 
ful,  would  result  in  his  continued  en 
slavement,  yet  he  worked  faithfully  for 
the  support  of  the  master's  family.  If 
the  Negro  had  yielded  to  the  tempta 
tion  and  suggestion  to  use  the  torch  or 
dagger  in  an  attempt  to  destroy  his 

8 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

master's  property  and  family,  the  result 
would  have  been  that  the  war  would 
have  been  ended  quickly ;  for  the  master 
would  have  returned  from  the  battle 
field  to  protect  and  defend  his  property 
and  family.  But  the  Negro  to  the  last 
was  faithful  to  the  trust  that  had  been 
thrust  upon  him,  and  during  the  four 
years  of  war  in  which  the  male  members 
of  the  family  were  absent  from  their 
homes  there  is  not  a  single  instance 
recorded  where  he  in  any  way  at 
tempted  to  outrage  the  family  of  the 
master  or  in  any  way  to  injure  his 
property. 

Not  only  is  this  true,  but  all  through 
the  years  of  preparation  for  the  war  and 
during  the  war  itself  the  Negro  showed 
himself  to  be  an  uncompromising  friend 
to  the  Union.  In  fact,  of  all  the  charges 
brought  against  him,  there  is  scarcely 
a  single  instance  where  one  has  been 
charged  with  being  a  traitor  to  his 
country.  This  has  been  true  whether 

9 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

he  has  been  in  a  state  of  slavery  or  in  a 
state  of  freedom. 

From  1865  to  1876  constituted  what 
perhaps  may  be  termed  the  days  of  Re 
construction.  This  was  the  period  when 
the  Southern  States  which  had  with 
drawn  from  the  Union  were  making  an 
effort  to  reinstate  themselves  and  to 
establish  a  permanent  system  of  State 
government./  At  the  close  of  the  war 
both  the  Southern  white  man  and  the 
Negro  found  themselves  in  the  midst  of 
poverty.  The  ex-master  returned  from 
the  war  to  find  his  slave  property  gone, 
his  farms  and  other  industries  in  a  state 
of  collapse,  and  the  whole  industrial  or 
economic  system  upon  which  he  had 
depended  for  years  entirely  disorganised. 
As  we  review  calmly  and  dispassionately 
the  period  of  reconstruction,  we  must 
use  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  and  gener 
osity.  The  weak  point,  to  my  mind,  in 
the  reconstruction  era  was  that  no 
strong  force  was  brought  to  bear  in  the 

IO 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

direction  of  preparing  the  Negro  to 
become  an  intelligent,  reliable  citizen 
and  voter.  The  main  effort  seems  to 
have  been  in  the  direction  of  controlling 
his  vote  for  the  time  being,  regardless 
of  future  interests.  I  hardly  believe 
that  any  race  of  people  with  similar 
preparation  and  similar  surroundings 
would  have  acted  more  wisely  or  very 
differently  from  the  way  the  Negro 
acted  during  the  period  of  reconstruc 
tion. 

Without  experience,  without  prepa 
ration,  and  in  most  cases  without  ordi 
nary  intelligence,  he  was  encouraged  to 
leave  the  field  and  shop  and  enter  poli 
tics.  That  under  such  circumstances 
he  should  have  made  mistakes  is  very 
natural.  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
Negro  was  so  much  at  fault  for  enter 
ing  so  largely  into  politics,  and  for  the 
mistakes  that  were  made  in  too  many 
cases,  as  were  the  unscrupulous  white 
leaders  who  got  the  Negro's  confidence 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

and  controlled  his  vote  to  further  their 
own  ends,  regardless,  in  many  cases,  of 
the  permanent  welfare  of  the  Negro.  I  I 
have  always  considered  it  unfortunate 
that  the  Southern  white  man  did  not 
make  more  of  an  effort  during  the  period 
of  reconstruction  to  get  the  confidence 
and  sympathy  of  the  Negro,  and  thus 
have  been  able  to  keep  him  in  close 
touch  and  sympathy  in  politics.  It  was 
also  unfortunate  that  the  Negro  was  so 
completely  alienated  from  the  Southern 
white  man  in  all  political  matters,  y  I 
/fhtnk  it  would  have  been  better  for  all 
concerned  if,  immediately  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  an  educational  and  property 
qualification  for  the  exercise  of  the  fran 
chise  had  been  prescribed  that  would 
have  applied  fairly  and  squarely  to  both 
races;  and,  also,  if,  in  educating  the 
T^egro,  greater  stress  had  been  put 
upon  training  him  along  the  lines  of 
industry  for  which  his  services  were 
in  the  greatest  demand  in  the  South. 

12 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

In  a  word,  too  much  stress  was  placed 
upon  the  mere  matter  of  voting  and 
holding  political  office  rather  than  upon 
the  preparation  for  the  highest  citizen 
ship.  In  saying  what  I  have,  I  do  not 
mean  to  convey  the  impression  that 
the  whole  period  of  reconstruction  was 
barren  of  fruitful  results.  While  it  is 
not  a  very  encouraging  chapter  in  the 
history  of  our  country,  I  believe  that 
this  period  did  serve  to  point  out  many 
weak  points  in  our  effort  to  elevate 
the  Negro,  and  that  we  are  now  taking 
advantage  of  the  mistakes  that  were 
made.  The  period  of  reconstruction 
served  at  least  to  show  the  world  that 
with  proper  preparation  and  with  a 
sufficient  foundation  the  Negro  pos 
sesses  the  elements  out  of  which  men 
of  the  highest  character  and  usefulness 
can  be  developed.  I  might  name  sev 
eral  characters  who  were  brought  before 
the  world  by  reason  of  the  reconstruc 
tion  period.  I  give  one  as  an  example 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

of  others :  Hon.  Blanche  K.  Bruce,  who 
had  been  a  slave,  but  who  held  many 
honourable  positions  in  the  State  of 
Mississippi,  including  an  election  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  where  he  served 
a  full  term;  later  he  was  twice  ap 
pointed  Register  of  the  United  States 
Treasury.  In  all  these  positions  Mr. 
Bruce  gave  the  greatest  satisfaction, 
and  not  a  single  whisper  of  dishonesty 
or  incompetency  has  ever  been  heard 
against  him.  During  the  period  of  his 
public  life  he  was  brought  into  active 
and  daily  contact  with  Northern  and 
Southern  white  people,  all  of  whom 
speak  of  him  in  the  highest  measure 
of  respect  and  confidence. 

What  the  Negro  wants  and  what  the 
country  wants  to  do  is  to  take  advan 
tage  of  all  the  lessons  that  were  taught 
during  the  days  of  reconstruction,  and 
apply  these  lessons  bravely,  honestly, 
in  laying  the  foundation  upon  which 
the  Negro  can  stand  in  the  future  and 

1-4 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

make  himself  a  useful,  honourable,  and 
desirable  citizen,  whether  he  has  his 
residence  in  the  North,  the  South,  or 
the  West 


CHAPTER  II. 

IN  order  that  the  reader  may  under 
stand  me  and  why  I  lay  so  much  stress 
upon  the  importance  of  pushing  the  doc 
trine  of  industrial  education  for  the 
Negro,  it  is  necessary,  first  of  all,  to  re 
view  the  condition  of  affairs  at  the  pres 
ent  time  in  the  Southern  States-  For 
years  I  have  had  something  of  an  oppor 
tunity  to  study  the  Negro  at  first-hand ; 
and  I  feel  that  I  know  him  pretty  well, — 
him  and  his  needs,  his  failures  and  his 
successes,  his  desires  and  the  likelihood 
of  their  fulfilment.  I  have  studied  him 
and  his  relations  with  his  white  neigh 
bours,  and  striven  to  find  how  these  re 
lations  may  be  made  more  conducive  to 
the  general  peace  and  welfare  both  of 
the  South  and  of  the  country  at  large. 

In  the  Southern  part  of  the  United 
States  there  are  twenty-two  millions  of 
people  who  are  bound  to  the  fifty  mill 
ions  of  the  North  by  ties  which  neither 

16 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

can  tear  asunder  if  they  would.  The 
most  intelligent  in  a  New  York  com 
munity  has  his  intelligence  darkened 
by  the  ignorance  of  a  fellow-citizen  in 
the  Mississippi  bottoms.  The  most 
wealthy  in  New  York  City  would  be 
more  wealthy  but  for  the  poverty  of 
a  fellow-being  in  the  Carolina  rice 
swamps.  The  most  moral  and  relig 
ious  men  in  Massachusetts  have  their 
religion  and  morality  modified  by  the 
degradation  of  the  man  in  the  South 
whose  religion  is  a  mere  matter  of  form 
or  of  emotionalism.  The  vote  of  the 
man  in  Maine  that  is  cast  for  the  high 
est  and  purest  form  of  government  is 
largely  neutralised  by  the  vote  of  the 
man  in  Louisiana  whose  ballot  is  stolen 
or  cast  in  ignorance.  Therefore,  when 
the  South  is  ignorant,  the  North  is  ig 
norant;  when  the  South  is  poor,  the 
North  is  poor;  when  the  South  com 
mits  crime,  the  nation  commits  crime. 
For  the  citizens  of  the  North  there  is 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

no  escape;  they  must  help  raise  the 
character  of  the  civilisation  in  the 
South,  or  theirs  will  be  lowered.  No 
member  of  the  white  race  in  any  part  of 
the  country  can  harm  the  weakest  or 
meanest  member  of  the  black  race 
without  the  proudest  and  bluest  blood 
of  the  nation  being  degraded. 

It  seems  to  me  that  there  never  was 
a  time  in  the  history  of  the  country 
when  those  interested  in  education 
should  the  more  earnestly  consider  to 
what  extent  the  mere  acquiring  of  the 
ability  to  read  and  write,  the  mere  ac 
quisition  of  a  knowledge  of  literature 
and  science,  makes  men  producers,  lovers 
of  labour,  independent,  honest,  unselfish, 
and,  above  all,  good.  Call  education  by 
what  name  you  please,  if  it  fails  to 
bring  about  these  results  among  the 
masses,  it  falls  short  of  its  highest  end. 
The  science,  the  art,  the  literature,  that 
fails  to  reach  down  and  bring  the  hum 
blest  up  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  fullest 

18 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

blessings  of  our  government,  is  weak,  no 
matter  how  costly  the  buildings  or  appa 
ratus  used  or  how  modern  the  methods 
of  instruction  employed.  The  study  of 
arithmetic  that  does  not  result  in  mak 
ing  men  conscientious  in  receiving  and 
counting  the  ballots  of  their  fellow-men 
is  faulty.  The  study  of  art  that  does 
not  result  in  making  the  strong  less 
willing  to  oppress  the  weak  means  little. 
How  I  wish  that  from  the  most  cultured 
and  highly  endowed  university  in  the 
great  North  to  the  humblest  log  cabin 
school-house  in  Alabama,  we  could  burn, 
as  it  were,  into  the  hearts  and  heads  of 
all  that  useful ness,4hat  service  to  our 
brother,  is  the  supreme  end  of  educa 
tion.  Putting  the  thought  more  directly 
as  it  applies  to  conditions  in  the  South, 
can  you  make  the  intelligence  of  the 
North  affect  the  South  in  the  same 
ratio  that  the  ignorance  of  the  South 
affects  the  North  ?  Let  us  take  a  not 
improbable  case :  A  great  national  case 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

is  to  be  decided,  one  that  involves  peace 
or  war,  the  honour  or  dishonour  of  our 
nation, —  yea,  the  very  existence  of  the 
government.  The  North  and  West  are 
divided.  There  are  five  million  votes 
to  be  cast  in  the  South ;  and,  of  this 
number,  one-half  are  ignorant.  Not 
only  are  one-half  the  voters  ignorant; 
but,  because  of  the  ignorant  votes  they 
cast,  corruption  and  dishonesty  in  a 
dozen  forms  have  crept  into  the  exer 
cise  of  the  political  franchise  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  conscience  of  the 
intelligent  class  is  seared  in  its  attempts 
to  defeat  the  will  of  the  ignorant  voters. 
Here,  then,  you  have  on  the  one  hand 
an  ignorant  vote,  on  the  other  an  intel 
ligent  vote  minus  a  conscience.  The 
time  may  not  be  far  off  when  to  this 
kind  of  jury  we  shall  have  to  look  for 
the  votes  which  shall  decide  in  a  large 
measure  the  destiny  of  our  democratic 
institutions. 

When  a  great  national  calamity  stares 

20 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

us  in  the  face,  we  are,  I  fear,  too  much 
o-iven  to  depending  on  a  short  "  cam 
paign  of  education  "  to  do  on  the  hust 
ings  what  should  have  been  accom 
plished  in  the  school. 

With  this  idea  in  view,  let  us  examine 
\vith  more  care  the  condition  of  civilisa 
tion  in  the  South,  and  the  work  to  be 
done  there  before  all  classes  will  be  fit 
for  the  high  duties  of  citizenship.  In 
reference  to  the  Negro  race,  I  am  con 
fronted  with  some  embarrassment  at 
the  outset,  because  of  the  various  and 
conflicting  opinions  as  to  what  is  to  be 
its  final  place  in  our  economic  and  po 
litical  life. 

Within  the  last  thirty  years  — and, 
I  might  add,  within  the  last  three 
months, —  it  has  been  proven  by  eminent 
authority  that  the  Negro  '.s  increasing  in 
numbers  so  fast  that  it  is  only  a  ques 
tion  of  a  few  years  before  he  will  far 
outnumber  the  white  race  in  the  South, 
and  it  has  also  been  proven  that  the 

21 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Negro  is  fast  dying  out,  and  it  is  only  a 
question  of  a  few  years  before  he  will 
have  completely  disappeared.  It  has 
also  been  proven  that  education  helps 
the  Negro  and  that  education  hurts  him, 
that  he  is  fast  leaving  the  South  and 
taking  up  his  residence  in  the  North 
and  West,  and  that  his  tendency  is  to 
drift  toward  the  low  lands  of  the  Missis 
sippi  bottoms.  It  has  been  proven  that 
education  unfits  the  Negro  for  work 
and  that  education  makes  him  more 
valuable  as  a  labourer,  that  he  is  our 
greatest  criminal  and  that  he  is  our 
most  law-abiding  citizen.  In  the  midst 
of  these  conflicting  opinions,  it  is  hard 
to  hit  upon  the  truth. 

But,  also,  in  the  midst  of  this  confu 
sion,  there  are  a  few  things  of  which  I 
am  certain, —  things  which  furnish  a 
basis  for  thought  and  action.  I  know 
that  whether  the  Negroes  are  increas 
ing  or  decreasing,  whether  they  are 
growing  better  or  worse,  whether  they 

22 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

are  valuable  or  valueless,  that  a  few 
years  ago  some  fourteen  of  them  were 
brought  into  this  country,  and  that  now 
those  fourteen  are  nearly  ten  millions. 
I  know  that,  whether  in  slavery  or  free- 
jj  dom,  they  have  always  been  loyal  to  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  that  no  school-house 
has  been  opened  for  them  that  has  not 
|  been  filled,  that  the  2,000,000  ballots  that 
(  they  have  the  right  to  cast  are  as  potent 
1  for  weal  or  woe  as  an  equal  number 
cast  by  the  wisest  and  most  influential 
men  in  America.  I  know  that  wher 
ever  Negro  life  touches  the  life  of  the 
nation  it  helps  or  it  hinders,  that 
wherever  the  life  of  the  white  race 
touches  the  black  it  makes  it  stronger 
or  weaken  Further,  I  know  that  al 
most  every  other  race  that  has  tried  to 
look  the  white  man  in  the  face  has  "dis 
appeared.  I  know,  despite  all  the  con 
flicting  opinions,  and  with  a  full  knowl 
edge  of  all  the  Negroes'  weaknesses, 
that  only  a  few  centuries  ago  they  went 

23 

• 

I      .     ' 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

into  slavery  in  this  country  pagans, 
that  they  came  out  Christians;  they 
went  into  slavery  as  so  much  property, 
they  came  out  American  citizens ;  they 
went  into  slavery  without  a  language, 
they  came  out  speaking  the  proud 
Anglo-Saxon  tongue;  they  went  into 
slavery  with  the  chains  clanking  about 
their  wrists,  they  came  out  with  the 
American  ballot  in  their  hands. 

I  submit  it  to  the  candid  and  sober 
judgment  of  all  men,  if  a  race  that  is 
capable  of  such  a  test,  such  a  transfor 
mation,  is  not  worth  saving  and  making 
a  part,  in  reality  as  well  as  in  name,  of 
our  democratic  government  That  the 
Negro  may  be  fitted  for  the  fullest  en 
joyment  of  the  privileges  and  responsi 
bilities  of  our  citizenship,  it  is  important 
that  the  nation  be  honest  and  candid 
with  him,  whether  honesty  and  candour 
for  the  time  being  pleases  or  displeases 
him.  It  is  with  an  ignorant  race  as  it 
is  with  a  child:  it  craves  at  first  the 

24 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

superficial,  the  ornamental  signs  of  prog 
ress  rather  than  the  reality.  The  igno 
rant  race  is  tempted  to  jump,  at  one 
bound,  to  the  position  that  it  has  re 
quired  years  of  hard  struggle  for  others 
to  reach. 

It  seems  to  me  that,  as  a  general 
thing,  the  temptation  in  the  past  in 
educational  and  missionary  work  has 
been  to  do  for  the  new  people  that 
which  was  done  a  thousand  years  ago, 
or  that  which  is  being  done  for  a  people 
a  thousand  miles  away,  without  making 
a  careful  study  of  the  needs  and  condi 
tions  of  the  people  whom  it  is  designed 
to  help.  The  temptation  is  to  run  all 
people  through  a  certain  educational 
mould,  regardless  of  the  condition  of 
the  subject  or  the  end  to  be  accom 
plished.  This  has  been  the  case  too 
often  in  the  South  in  the  past,  I  am 
sure.  Men  have  tried  to  use,  with  these 
simple  people  just  freed  from  slavery 
and  with  no  past,  no  inherited  traditions 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

of  learning,  the  same  methods  of  educa- 
tion  which  they  have  used  in  New  Eng 
land,  .with  all  its  inherited  traditions  and 
desires.J  The  Negro  is  behind  the  white 
man  because  he  has  not  had  the  same 
Jchance,  and  not  from  any  inherent  dif 
ference  in  his  nature  and  desires.  What 
the  race  accomplishes  in  these  first  fifty 
years  of  freedom  will  at  the  end  of  these 
years,  in  a  large  measure,  constitute  its 
past.  It  is,  indeed,  a  responsibility  that 
rests  upon  this  nation, —  the  foundation 
laying  for  a  people  of  its  past,  present, 
and  future  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

One  of  the  weakest  points  in  connec 
tion  with  the  present  development  of 
the  race  is  that  so  many  get  the  idea 
that  the  mere  filling  of  the  head  with 
a  knowledge  of  mathematics,  the  sci 
ences,  and  literature,  means  success  in 
life.  Let  it  be  understood,  in  every 
corner  of  the  South,  among  the  Negro 
youth  at  least,  that  knowledge  will 
benefit  little  except  as  it  is  harnessed, 

26 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

except  as  its  power  is  pointed  in  a 
direction  that  will  bear  upon  the  present 
needs  and  condition  of  the  race.  There 
is  in  the  heads  of  the  Negro  youth  of 
the  South  enough  general  and  floating 
knowledge  of  chemistry,  of  botany,  of 
zoology,  of  geology,  of  mechanics,  of 
electricity,  of  mathematics,  to  recon 
struct  and  develop  a  large  part  of  the 
agricultural,  mechanical,  and  domestic 
life  of  the  race.  But  how  much  of  it 
is  brought  to  a  focus  along  lines  of  prac 
tical  work?  In  cities  of  the  South  like 
Atlanta,  how  many  coloured  mechanical 
engineers  are  there?  or  how  many  ma 
chinists?  how  many  civil  engineers? 
how  many  architects  ?  how  many  house 
decorators?  In  the  whole  'State  of 
Georgia,  where  eighty  per  cent  of  the 
coloured  people  depend  upon  agricult 
ure,  how  many  men  are  there  who  are 
well  grounded  in  the  principles  and 
practices  of  scientific  farming?  or  dairy 

work?  or  fruit  culture?  or  floriculture? 
\ 

27 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

For  example,  not  very  long  ago  I  had 
a  conversation  with  a  young  coloured 
man  who  is  a  graduate  of  one  of  the 
prominent  universities  of  this  country. 
The  father  of  this  man  is  comparatively 
ignorant,  but  by  hard  work  and  the  ex 
ercise  of  common  sense  he  has  become 
the  6wner  of  two  thousand  acres  of  land. 
He  owns  more  than  a  score  of  horses, 
cows,  and  mules  and  swine  in  large 
numbers,  and  is  considered  a  prosperous 
farmer.  In  college  the  son  of  this  farmer 
has  studied  chemistry,  botany,  zoology, 
surveying,  and  political  economy.  In 
my  conversation  I  asked  this  young  man 
how  many  acres  his  father  cultivated  in 
cotton  and  how  many  in  corn.  With  a 
far-off  gaze  up  into  the  heavens  he  an 
swered  that  he  did  not  know.  When  I 
asked  him  the  classification  of  the  soils 
on  his  father's  farm,  he  did  not  know, 
He  did  not  know  how  many  horses  or 
cows  his  father  owned  nor  of  what 
breeds  they  were,  and  seemed  surprised 

28 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

that  he  should  be  asked  such  questions. 
It  never  seemed  to  have  entered  his 
mind  that  on  his  father's  farm  was  the 
place  to  make  his  chemistry,  his  mathe 
matics,  and  his  literature  penetrate  and 
reflect  itself  in  every  acre  of  land,  every 
bushel  of  corn,  every  cow,  and  every 

Pig- 
Let  me  give  other  examples  of  this 

mistaken  sort  of  education.  When  a 
mere  boy,  I  saw  a  young  coloured  man, 
who  had  spent  several  years  in  school, 
sitting  in  a  common  cabin  in  the  South, 
studying  a  French  grammar.  I  noted 
the  poverty,  the  untidiness,  the  want  of 
system  and  thrift,  that  existed  about  the 
cabin,  notwithstanding  his  knowledge 
of  French  and  other  academic  studies. 
Again,  not  long  ago  I  saw  a  coloured 
minister  preparing  his  Sunday  sermon 
just  as  the  New  England  minister  pre 
pares  his  sermon.  But  this  coloured 
minister  was  in  a  broken-down,  leaky, 
rented  log  cabin,  with  weeds  in  the  yard, 

29 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

surrounded  by  evidences  of  poverty, 
filth,  and  want  of  thrift.  This  minister 
had  spent  some  time  in  school  studying 
theology.  How  much  better  it  would 
have  been  to  have  had  this  minister 
taught  the  dignity  of  labour,  taught  the 
oretical  and  practical  farming  in  con 
nection  with  his  theology,  so  that  he 
could  have  added  to  his  meagre  salary, 
and  set  an  example  for  his  people  in 
the  matter  of  living  in  a  decent  house, 
and  having  a  knowledge  of  correct  farm 
ing!  In  a  word,  this  minister  should 
have  been  taught  that  his  condition,  and 
that  of  his  people,  was  not  that  of 
a  New  England  community;  and  he 
should  have  been  so  trained  as  to  meet 
the  actual  needs  and  conditions  of  the 
coloured  people  in  this  community,  so 
that  a  foundation  might  be  laid  that 
would,  in  the  future,  make  a  community 
like  New  England  communities. 

Since  the  Civil  War,  no  one  object 
has  been  more  misunderstood  than  that 

3° 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

of  the  object  and  value  of  industrial 
education  for  the  Negro.  To  begin 
with,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
condition  that  existed  in  the  South  im 
mediately  after  the  war,  and  that  now 
exists,  is  a  peculiar  one,  without  a  paral 
lel  in  history.  This  being  true,  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  wise  and  honest  thing  to 
do  is  to  make  a  study  of  the  actual  con 
dition  and  environment  of  the  Negro, 
and  do  that  which  is  best  f  :>r  him,  re 
gardless  of  whether  the  same  thing  has 
been  done  for  another  race  in  exactly 
the  same  way._[  There  are  those  among 


"tHewhite  race  and  those  among  the 
black  rsce  who  assert,  with  a  good  deal 
of  earnestness,  that  there  is  no  differ 
ence  between  the  white  man  and  the 
black  man  in  this  country.  This  sounds 
very  pleasant  and  tickles  the  fancy ;  but, 
when  the  test  of  hard,  cold  logic  is  ap 
plied  to  it,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that 
there  is  a  difference, —  not  an  inherent 
one,  not  a  racial  one,  but  a  difference 

3* 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

growing  out  of  unequal  opportunities 
in  the  past. 

If  I  may  be  permitted  to  criticise  the 
educational  work  that  has  been  done  in 
the  South,  I  would  say  that  the  weak 
point  has  been  in  the  failure  to  recog 
nise  this  difference. 

Negro  education,  immediately  after 
the  war  in  most  cases,  was  begun  too 
nearly  at  the  point  where  New  England 
education  had  ended.  Let  me  illustrate. 
One  of  the  saddest  sights  I  ever  saw 
was  the  placing  of  a  three  hundred  dol 
lar  rosewood  piano  in  a  country  school 
in  the  South  that  was  located  in  the 
midst  of  the  "  Black  Belt."  Am  I  argu 
ing  against  the  teaching  of  instrumental 
music  to  the  Negroes  in  that  commu 
nity?  Not  at  all;  only  I  should  have 
deferred  those  music  lessons  about 
twenty-five  years.  There  are  numbers 
of  such  pianos  in  thousands  of  New 
England  homes.  But  behind  the  piano 
in  the  New  England  home  there  are 

32 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

one  hundred  years  of  toil,  sacrifice,  and 
economy;  there  is  the  small  manufact 
uring  industry,  started  several  years  ago 
by  hand  power,  now  grown  into  a  great 
business ;  there  is  ownership  in  land,  a 
comfortable  home,  free  from  debt,  and  a 
bank  account  In  this  "Black  Belt" 
community  where  this  piano  went,  four- 
fifths  of  the  people  owned  no  land, 
many  lived  in  rented  one-room  cabins, 
many  were  in  debt  for  food  supplies, 
many  mortgaged  their  crops  for  the 
food  on  which  to  live,  and  not  one 
had  a  bank  account.  In  this  case,  how 
much  wiser  it  would  have  been  to  have 
taught  the  girls  in  this  community  sew 
ing,  intelligent  and  economical  cooking, 
housekeeping,  something  of  dairying  and 
horticulture?  The  boys  should  have 
been  taught  something  of  farming  in 
connection  with  their  common-school 
education,  instead  of  awakening  in  them 
a  desire  for  a  musical  instrument  which 
resulted  in  their  parents  going  into  debt 

33 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

for  a  third-rate  piano  or  Organ  before 
a  home  was  purchased.  Industrial  les 
sons  would  have  awakened,  in  this  com 
munity,  a  desire  for  homes,  and  would 
have  given  the  people  the  ability  to  free 
themselves  from  industrial  slavery  to  the 
extent  that  most  of  them  would  have 
soon  purchased  homes.  After  the  home 
and  the  necessaries  of  life  were  supplied 
could  come  the  piano.  One  piano  les 
son  in  a  home  of  one's  own  is  worth 
twenty  in  a  rented  log  cabin. 

All  that  I  have  just  written,  and  the 
various  examples  illustrating  it,  show 
the  present  helpless  condition  of  my 
people  in  the  South, —  how  fearfully 
they  lack  the  primary  training  for  good 
living  and  good  citizenship,  how  much 
they  stand  in  need  of  a  solid  foundation 
on  which  to  build  their  future  success. 
I  believe,  as  I  have  many  times  said  in 
my  various  addresses  in  the  North  and 
in  the  South,  that  the  main  reason  for 
the  existence  of  this  curious  state  of 

34 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

affairs  is  the  lack  of  practical  training 
in  the  ways  of  life. 

There,  is,  too,  a  great  lack  of  money 
with  which  to  carry  on  the  educational 
work  in  the  South.  I  was  in  a  county 
in  a  Southern  State  not  long  ago  where 
there  are  some  thirty  thousand  coloured 
people  and  about  seven  thousand  whites. 
In  this  county  not  a  single  public  school 
for  Negroes  had  been  open  that  year 
longer  than  three  months,  not  a  single 
coloured  teacher  had  been  paid  more 
than  $15  per  month  for  his  teaching. 
Not  one  of  these  schools  was  taught  in 
a  building  that  was  worthy  of  the  name 
of  school-house.  In  this  county  the  State 
or  public  authorities  do  not  own  a  single 
dollar's  worth  of  school  property, —  not 
a  school-house,  a  blackboard,  or  a  piece 
of  crayon.  Each  coloured  child  had 
had  spent  on  him  that  year  for  his 
education  about  fifty  cents,  while  each 
child  in  New  York  or  Massachusetts 
had  had  spent  on  him  that  year  for 

35 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

education  not  far  from  $20.  And  yet 
each  citizen  of  this  county  is  expected 
to  share  the  burdens  and  privileges  of 
our  democratic  form  of  government  just 
as  intelligently  and  conscientiously  as 
the  citizens  of  New  York  or  Boston. 
A  vote  in  this  county  means  as  much 
to  the  nation  as  a  vote  in  the  city  of 
Boston.  Crime  in  this  county  is  as 
truly  an  arrow  aimed  at  the  heart  of 
the  government  as  a  crime  •  committed 
in  the  streets  of  Boston. 

A  single  school-house  built  this  year 
in  a  town  near  Boston  to  shelter  about 
three  hundred  pupils  cost  more  for 
building  alone  than  is  spent  yearly  for 
the  education,  including  buildings,  ap 
paratus,  teachers,  for  the  whole  coloured 
school  population  of  Alabama.  The 
Commissioner  of  Education  for  the 
State  of  Georgia  not  long  ago  reported 
to  the  State  legislature  that  in  that 
State  there  were  two  hundred  thousand 
children  that  had  entered  no  school  the 

36 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

year  past  and  one  hundred  thousand 
more  who  were  at  school  but  a  few 
days,  making  practically  three  hundred 
thousand  children  between  six  and 
eighteen  years  of  age  that  are  growing 
up  in  ignorance  in  one  Southern  State 
alone.  The  same  report  stated  that 
outside  of  the  cities  and  towns,  while 
the  average  number  of  school-houses 
in  a  county  was  sixty,  all  of  these 
sixty  school-houses  were  worth  in  lump 
less  than  $2,000,  and  the  report  further 
added  that  many  of  the  school-houses 
in  Georgia  were  not  fit  for  horse  stables. 
I  am  glad  to  say.  however,  that  vast  im 
provement  over  this  condition  is  be 
ing  made  in  Georgia  under  the  inspired 
leadership  of  State  Commissioner  Glenn, 
and  in  Alabama  under  the  no  less  zeal 
ous  leadership  of  Commissioner  Aber- 
crombie. 

These  illustrations,  so  far  as  they 
concern  the  Gulf  States,  are  not  excep 
tional  cases ;  nor  are  they  overdrawn. 

37 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Until  there  is  industrial  independence, 
it  is  hardly  possible  to  have  good  living 
and  a  pure  ballot  in  the  country  dis 
tricts.  In  these  States  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  not  more  than  one  black  man  in 
twenty  owns  the  land  he  cultivates. 
Where  so  large  a  proportion  of  a  people 
are  dependent,  live  in  other  people's 
houses,  eat  other  people's  food,  and  wear 
clothes  they  have  not  paid  for,  it  is 
pretty  hard  to  expect  them  to  live  fairly 
and  vote  honestly. 

I  have  thus  far  referred  mainly  to 
the  Negro  race.  But  there  is  another 
side.  The  longer  I  live  and  the  more 
I  study  the  question,  the  more  I  am 
convinced  that  it  is  not  so  much  a 
problem  as  to  what  the  white  man  will 
do  with  the  Negro  as  what  the  Negro 
will  do  with  the  white  man  and  his  civ 
ilisation.  In  considering  this  side  of 
the^subjectj)!  thank  God  that  I  have 
grown  to  the  point  where  I  can  sympa 
thise  with  a  white  man  as  much  as  I 

38 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

can  sympathise  with  a  black^man.]  I 
have  grown  to~theTpoint  where  I  can 
sympathise  with  a  Southern  white  man 
as  much  as  I  can  sympathise  with  a 
Northern  white  man. 

As  bearing  upon  the  future  of  our 
civilisation,  I  ask  of  the  North  what 
of  their  white  brethren  in  the  South, — 
those  who  have  suffered  and  are  still 
suffering  the  consequences  of  American 
slavery,  for  which  both  North  and  South 
were  responsible  ?  Those  of  the  great 
and  prosperous  North  still  owe  to  their 
less  fortunate  brethren  of  the  Caucasian 
race  in  the  South,  not  less  than  to  them- 
selves,  a  serious  and  uncompleted  duty. 
What  was  the  task  the  North  asked  the 
South  to  perform  ?  Returning  to  their 
destitute  homes  after  years  of  war  to 
face  blasted  hopes,  devastation,  a  shat 
tered  industrial  system,  they  asked  them 
to  add  to  their  own  burdens  that  of 
preparing  in  education,  politics,  and 
economics,  in  a  few  short  years,  for 

39 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

citizenship,  four  millions  of  former 
slaves.  That  the  South,  staggering 
under  the  burden,  made  blunders,  and 
that  in  a  measure  there  has  been  dis 
appointment,  no  one  need  be  surprised. 
The  educators,  the  statesmen,  the  phi- 
lanthropists,  have  imperfectly  compre 
hended  their  duty  toward  the  millions  of 
poor  whites  in  the  South  who  were 
buffeted  for  two  hundred  years  between 
slavery  and  freedom,  between  civilisation 
and  degradation,  who  were  disregarded 
by  both  master  and  slave.  It  needs  no 
prophet  to  tell  the  character  of  our  future 
civilisation  when  the  poor  white  boy  in 
the  country  districts  of  the  South  re 
ceives  one  dollar's  worth  of  education 
and  the  boy  of  the  same  class  in  the 
North  twenty  dollars'  worth,  when  one 
never  enters  a  reading-room  or  library 
and  the  other  has  reading-rooms  and 
libraries  in  every  ward  and  town,  when 
one  hears  lectures  and  sermons  once  in 
two  months  and  the  other  can  hear  a 

40 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

lecture   or   a  sermon  every  day  in  the 
jrear. 

The  time  has  come,  it  seems  to  me, 
when  in  this  matter  we  should  rise 
above  party  or  race  or  sectionalism  into 
the  region  of  duty  of  man  to  man,  of 
citizen  to  citizen,  of  Christian  to  Chris 
tian;  and  if  the  Negro,  who  has  been 
oppressed  and  denied  his  rights  in  a 
Christian  land,  can  help  the  whites  of 
the  North  and  South  to  rise,  can  be  the 
inspiration  of  their  rising,  into  this  at 
mosphere  of  generous  Christian  brother 
hood  and  self-forgetfulness,  he  will  see 
in  it  a  recompense  for  all  that  he  has 
suffered  in  the  past. 


CHAPTER   III. 

1  IN  the  heart  of  the  Black  Belt  of  the 
South  in  ante-bellum  days  there  was  a 
large  estate,  with  palatial  mansion,  sur- 
rounded  by  a  beautiful  grove,  in  which 
grew  flowers  and  shrubbery  of  every 
description.  Magnificent  specimens  of 
animal  life  grazed  in  the  fields,  and  in 
grain  and  all  manner  of  plant  growth 
this  estate  was  a  model.  In  a  word,  it 
was  the  highest  type  of  the  product  of 
slave  labor. 

Then  came  the  long  years  of  war, 
then  freedom,  then  the  trying  years  of 
reconstruction.  The  master  returned 
from  the  war  to  find  the  faithful  slaves 
who  had  been  the  bulwark  of  this  house 
hold  in  possession  of  their  freedom. 
Then  there  began  that  social  and  indus 
trial  revolution  in  the  South  which  it  is 
hard  for  any  who  was  not  really  a  part 
of  it  to  appreciate  or  understand.  Grad 
ually,  day  by  day,  this  ex-master  began 

42 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

to  realise,  with  a  feeling  almost  inde 
scribable,  to  what  an  extent  he  and  his 
family  had  grown  to  be  dependent 
upon  the  activity  and  faithfulness  of 
his  slaves ;  began  to  appreciate  to  what 
an  extent  slavery  had  sapped  his  sinews 
of  strength  and  independence,  how  his 
dependence  upon  slave  labour  had  de 
prived  him  and  his  offspring  of  the 
benefit  of  technical  and  industrial  train 
ing,  and,  worst  of  all,  had  unconsciously 
led  him  to  see  in  labour  drudgery  and 
degradation  instead  of  beauty,  dignity, 
and  civilising  power.  At  first  thqre 
was  a  halt  in  this  man's  life.  He 
cursed  the  North  and  he  cursed  the 
Negro.  Then  there  was  despair,  al 
most  utter  hopelessness,  over  his  weak 
and  childlike  condition.  The  tempta 
tion  was  to  forget  all  in  drink,  and  to 
this  temptation  there  was  a  gradual 
yielding.  With  the  loss  of  physical 
vigour  came  the  loss  of  mental  grasp 
and  pride  in  surroundings.  There  was 

43 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

the  falling  off  of  a  piece  of  plaster  from 
the  walls  of  the  house  which  was  not 
replaced,  then  another  and  still  another. 
Gradually,  the  window-panes  began 
to  disappear,  then  the  door-knobs. 
Touches  of  paint  and  whitewash,  which 
once  helped  to  give  life,  were  no  more 
to  be  seen.  The  hinges  disappeared 
from  the  gate,  then  a  board  from  the 
fence,  then  others  in  quick  succession. 
Weeds  and  unmown  grass  covered  the 
once  well-kept  lawn.  Sometimes  there 
were  servants  for  domestic  duties,  and 
sometimes  there  were  none.  In  the  ab 
sence  of  servants  the  unsatisfactory  con 
dition  of  the  food  told  that  it  was  being 
prepared  by  hands  unschooled  to  such 
duties.  As  the  years  passed  by,  debts 
accumulated  in  every  direction.  The 
education  of  the  children  was  neglected. 
Lower  and  lower  sank  the  industrial, 
financial,  and  spiritual  condition  of  the 
household.  For  the  first  time  the  awful 
truth  of  Scripture,  "  Whatsoever  a  man 

44 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap,"  seemed 
to  dawn  upon  him  with  a  reality  that  it 
is  hard  for  mortal  to  appreciate.  Within 
a  few  months  the  whole  mistake  of  slav 
ery  seemed  to  have  concentrated  itself 
upon  this  household.  And  this  was 
one  of  many. 

'  We  have  seen  how  the  ending  of 
slavery  and  the  beginning  of  freedom 
produced  not  only  a  shock,  but  a  stand 
still,  and  in  many  cases  a  collapse,  that 
lasted  several  years  in  the  life  of  many 
white  men.  If  the  sudden  change  thus 
affected  the  white  man,  should  this  not 
teach  us  that  we  should  have  more 
sympathy  than  has  been  shown  in  many 
cases  with  the  Negro  in  connection  with 
his  new  and  changed  life?  That  they 
made  many  mistakes,  plunged  into  ex 
cesses,  undertook  responsibilities  for 
which  they  were  not  fitted,  in  many 
cases  took  liberty  to  mean  license,  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at.  It  is  my  opin 
ion  that  the  next  forty  years  are  going 

45 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

to  show  by  many  per  cent,  a  higher  de 
gree  of  progress  in  the  life  of  the  Negro* 
along  all  lines  than  has  been  shown 
during  the  first  thirty  years  of  his  life. 
Certainly,  the  first  thirty  years  of  the 
Negro's  life  was  one  of  experiment ;  and 
consequently,  under  such  conditions,  he 
was  not  able  to  settle  down  to  real, 
earne5t,  hard  common  sense  efforts  to 
better  his  condition.  While  this  was 
true  in  a  great  many  cases,  on  the  other 
hand  a  large  proportion  of  the1  race, 
even  from  the  first,  saw  what  was  needed 
for  their  new  life,  and  began  to  settle 
down  to  lead  an  industrious,  frugal  ex 
istence,  and  to  educate  their  children 
and  in  every  way  prepare  themselves 
for  the  responsibilities  of  American 
citizenship. 

The  wonder  is  that  the  Negro  has 
made  as  few  mistakes  as  he  has,  when 
we  consider  all  the  surrounding  circum 
stances.  Columns  of  figures  have  been 
gleaned  from  the  census  reports  within 

46 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

the  last  quarter  of  a  century  to  show 
the  great  amount  of  crime  committed 
by  the  Negro  in  excess  of  that  com 
mitted  by  other  races.  No  one  will 
deny  the  fact  that  the  proportion  of 
crime  by  the  present  generation  of 
Negroes  is  seriously  large,  but  I  believe 
that  any  other  race  with  the  Negro's 
history  and  present  environment  would 
have  shown  about  the  same  criminal 
record. 

Another  consideration  which  we  must 
always  bear  in  mind  in  considering  the 
Negro  is  that  he  had  practically 
no  home  life  in  slavery;  that  is,  the 
mother  and  father  did  not  have  the 
responsibility,  and  consequently  the  ex 
perience,  of  training  their  own  children. 
The  matter  of  child  training  was  left  to 
the  master  and  mistress.  Consequently, 
it  has  only  been  within  the  last  thirty 
years  that  the  Negro  parents  have  had 
the  actual  responsibility  and  experience 
of  training  their  own  children.  That 

47 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

they  have  made  some  mistakes  in  thus 
training  them  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at.  Many  families  scattered  over  all 
parts  of  the  United  States  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  bring  themselves  together. 
When  the  Negro  parents  shall  have  had 
thirty  or  forty  additional  years  in  which 
to  found  homes  and  get  experience  in 
the  training  of  their  children,  I  believe 
that  we  will  find  that  the  amount  of 
crime  will  be  considerably  less  than  it  is 
now  shown  to  be. 

In  too  large  a  measure  the  Negro 
race  began  its  development  at  the  wrong 
end,  simply  because  neither  white  nor 
black  understood  the  case ;  and  no  won 
der,  for  there  had  never  been  such  a 
case  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

To  show  where  this  primary  mistake 
has  led  in  its  evil  results,  I  wish  to  pro 
duce  some  examples  showing  plainly 
how  prone  we  have  been  to  make  our 
education  formal,  superficial,  instead  of 
making  it  meet  the  needs  of  conditions. 

48 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

In  order  to  emphasise  the  matter 
more  fully,  I  repeat,  at  least  eighty  per 
cent,  of  the  coloured  people  in  the 
South  are  found  in  the  rural  districts, 
and  they  are  dependent  on  agriculture 
in  some  form  for  their  support.  Not 
withstanding  that  we  have  practically 
a  whole  race  dependent  upon  agricult 
ure,  and  notwithstanding  that  thirty 
years  have  passed  since  our  freedom, 
aside  from  what  has  been  done  at 
Hampton  and  Tuskegee  and  one  or  two 
other  institutions,  but  very  little  has 
been  attempted  by  State  or  philanthropy 
in  the  way  of  educating  the  race  in  this 
one  industry  upon  which  its  very  exist 
ence  depends.  Boys  have  been  taken 
from  the  farms  and  educated  in  law, 
theology,  Hebrew  and  Greek, —  edu 
cated  in  everything  else  except  the  very 
subject  that  they  should  know  most 
about.  I  question  whether  among  all 
the  educated  coloured  people  in  the 
United  States  you  can  find  six,  if  we  ex- 

49 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

cept  those  from  the  institutions  named, 
who  have  received  anything  like  a  thor 
ough  training  in  agriculture.  It  would 
have  seemed  that,  since  self-support,  in 
dustrial  independence,  is  the  first  condi 
tion  for  lifting  up  any  race,  that  educa 
tion  in  theoretical  and  practical  agri 
culture,  horticulture,  dairying,  and  stock- 
raising,  should  have  occupied  the  first 
place  in  our  system. 

Some  time  ago,  when  we  decided  to 
'make  tailoring  a  part  of  our  training  at 
the  Tuskegee  Institute,  I  was  amazed  to 
find  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
find  in  the  whole  country  an  educated 
coloured  man  who  could  teach  the  mak 
ing  of  clothing.  We  could  find  them  by 
the  score  who  could  teach  astronomy, 
theology,  grammar,  or  Latin,  but  almost 
none  who  could  instruct  in  the  making 
of  clothing,  something  that  has  to  be 
used  by  every  one  of  us  every  day  in 
the  year.  How  often  has  my  heart  been 
made  to  sink  as  I  have  gone  through 

5° 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

the  South  and  into  the  homes  of  people, 
and  found  women  who  could  converse 
intelligently  on  Grecian  history,  who 
had  studied  geometry,  could  analyse 
the  most  complex  sentences,  and  yet 
could  not  analyse  the  poorly  cooked 
and  still  more  poorly  served  corn  bread 
and  fat  meat  that  they  and  their  families 
were  eating  three  times  a  day!  It  is 
little  trouble  to  find  girls  who  can  locate 
Pekin  or  the  Desert  of  Sahara  on  an 
artificial  globe,  but  seldom  can  you  find 
one  who  can  locate  on  an  actual  dinner 
table  the  proper  place  for  the  carving 
knife  and  fork  or  the  meat  and  vege 
tables. 

A  short  time  ago,  in  one  of  the 
Southern  cities,  a  coloured  man  died 
who  had  received  training  as  a  skilled 
mechanic  during  the  days  of  slavery. 
Later  by  his  skill  and  industry  he  built 
up  a  great  business  as  a  house  con 
tractor  and  builder.  In  this  same  city 
there  are  35,003  coloured  people,  among 

5' 


The  Future  of  th£  American  Negro 

i  

them  young  men  who  have  been  well 
educated  in  the  languages  and  in  litera- 
ture;  but  not  a  single  one  could  be 
found  who  had  been  so  trained  in  me 
chanical  and  architectural  drawing  that 
he  could  carry  on  the  business  which 
this  ex-slave  had  built  up,  and  so  it  was 
soon  scattered  to  the  wind.  Aside  from 
the  work  done  in  the  institutions  that 
I  have  mentioned,  you  can  find  almost 
no  coloured  men  who  have  been  trained 
in  the  principles  of  architecture,  notwith 
standing  the  fact  that  a  vast  majority 
of  our  race  are  without  homes.  Here, 
then,  are  the  three  prime  conditions  for 
growth,  for  civilisation, —  food,  clothing, 
shelter ;  and  yet  we  have  been  the  slaves 
of  forms  and  customs  to  such  an  extent 
that  we  have  failed  in  a  large  measure 
to  look  matters  squarely  in  the  face  and 
meet  actual  needs. 

It  may  well  be  asked  by  one  who 
has  not  carefully  considered  the  matter: 
"  What  has  become  of  all  those  skilled 

5* 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

i 

farm-hands  that  used  to  be  on  the  old 
plantations  ?  Where  are  those  wonder 
ful  cooks  we  hear  about,  where  those 
exquisitely  trained  house  servants,  those 
cabinet  makers,  and  the  jacks-of-all- 
trades  that  were  the  pride  of  the 
South?'1  This  is  easily  answered, — 
they  are  mostly  dead.  The  survivors 
are  too  old  to  work.  "  But  did  they 
not  train  their  children  ?  "  is  the  natural 
question.  Alas!  the  answer  is  "no." 
Their  skill  was  so  commonplace  to 
them,  and  to  their  former  masters,  that 
neither  thought  of  it  as  being  a  hard- 
earned  or  desirable  accomplishment: 
it  was  natural,  like  breathing.  Their 
children  would  have  it  as  a  matter  of 
course.  What  their  children  needed 
was  education.  So  they  went  out  into 
the  world,  the  ambitious  ones,  and  got 
education,  and  forgot  the  necessity  of 
the  ordinary  training  to  live. 

God  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
in  my  opinion,  prepared  the  way  for  the 

S3 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

redemption  of  the  Negro  through  indus 
trial  development.  First,  he  made  the 
Southern  white  man  do  business  with 
the  Negro  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  in  a  way  that  no  one  else  has 
done  business  with  him.  If  a  Southern 
white  man  wanted  a  house  or  a  bridge 
built,  he  consulted  a  Negro  mechanic 
about  the  plan  and  about  the  actual 
building  of  the  house  or  bridge.  If  he 
wanted  a  suit  of  clothes  or  a  pair  of 
shoes  made,  it  was  to  the  Negro  tailor 
or  shoemaker  that  he  talked.  Secondly, 
every  large  slave  plantation  in  the  South 
was,  in  a  limited  sense,  an  industrial 
school.  On  these  plantations  there 
were  scores  of  young  coloured  men  and 
women  who  were  constantly  being 
trained,  not  alone  as  common  farmers, 
but  as  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  wheel 
wrights,  plasterers,  brick  masons,  engi 
neers,  bridge  -  builders,  cooks,  dress 
makers,  housekeepers,  etc.(  I  would  be 
the  last  to  apologise  for  the  curse  of 

54 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

slavery;  but  I  am  simply  stating  facts. 
This  training  was  crude  and  was  given 
for  selfish  purposes,  and  did  not  answer 
the  highest  ends,  because  there  was  the 
absence  of  brain  training  in  connection 
with  that  of  the  hand.  Nevertheless, 
this  business  contact  with  the  South 
ern  white  man,  and  the  industrial  train 
ing  received  on  these  plantations,  put 
the  Negro  at  the  close  of  the  war  into 
possession  of  all  the  common  and  skilled 
labour  in  the  South,  f  For  nearly  twenty 
years  after  the  war,  except  in  one  or 
two  cases,  the  value  of  the  industrial 
training  given  by  the  Negroes'  former 
masters  on  the  plantations  and  else 
where  was  overlooked.  Negro  men 
and  women  were  educated  in  literature, 
mathematics,  and  the  sciences,  with  no 
thought  of  what  had  taken  place  on 
these  plantations  for  two  and  a  half 
centuries.  After  twenty  years,  those 
who  were  trained  as  mechanics,  etc., 
during  slavery  began  to  disappear  by 

SS 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

death ;  and  gradually  we  awoke  to  the 
fact  that  we  had  no  one  to  take  their 
places.  We  had  scores  of  young  men 
learned  in  Greek,  but  few  in  carpentry 
or  mechanical  or  architectural  drawing. 
We  had  trained  many  in  Latin,  but  al 
most  none  as  engineers,  bridge-builders, 
and  machinists.  Numbers  were  taken 
from  the  farm  and  educated,  but  were 
educated  in  everything  else  except  agri 
culture.  Hence  they  had  no  sympathy 
with  farm  life,  and  did  not  return  to  it. 

This  last  that  I  have  been  saying  is 
practically  a  repetition  of  what  I  have 
said  in  the  preceding  paragraph;  but,  to 
emphasise  it, —  and  this  point  is  one  of 
the  most  important  I  wish  to  impress 
on  the  reader, —  it  is  well  to  repeat,  to 
say  the  same  thing  twice.  Oh,  if  only 
more  who  had  the  shaping  of  the  edu 
cation  of  the  Negro  could  have,  thirty 
years  ago,  realised,  and  made  others  re 
alise,  where  the  forgetting  of  the  years 
of  manual  training  and  the  sudden  ac- 

5* 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

quiring  of  education  were  going  to  lead 
the  Negro  race,  what  a  saving  it  would 
have  been !  How  much  less  my  race 
v/ould  have  had  to  answer  for,  as  well 
as  the  white ! 

But  it  is  too  late  to  cry  over  what 
might  have  been.  It  is  time  to  make 
up,  as  soon  as  possible,  for  this  mistake, 
—  time  for  both  races  to  acknowledge 
it,  and  go  forth  on  the  course  that,  it 
seems  to  me,  all  must  now  see  to  be  the 
right  one, —  industrial  education. 

As  an  example  of  what  a  well-trained 
and  educated  Negro  may  now  do,  and 
how  ready  to  acknowledge  him  a 
Southern  white  man  may  be,  let  me 
return  once  more  to  the  plantation  I 
spoke  of  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter. 
As  the  years  went  by,  the  night  seemed 
to  grow  darker,  so  that  all  seemed  hope 
less  and  lost.  At  this  point  relief  and 
strength  came  from  an  unexpected 
source.  This  Southern  white  man's 
idea  of  Negro  education  had  been  that 

57 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

it  merely  meant  a  parrot-like  absorption 
of  Anglo-Saxon  civilisation,  with  a 
special  tendency  to  imitate  the  weaker 
elements  of  the  white  man's  character; 
that  it  meant  merely  the  high  hat, 
kid  gloves,  a  showy  walking  cane, 
patent  leather  shoes,  and  all  the  rest  of 
it  To  this  ex-master  it  seemed  im 
possible  that  the  education  of  the 
Negro  could  produce  any  other  results. 
And  so,  last  of  all,  did  he  expect  help  or 
encouragement  from  an  educated  black 
man;  but  it  was  just  from  this  source 
that  help  came.  Soon  after  the  process 
of  decay  began  in  this  white  man's 
estate,  the  education  of  a  certain  black 
man  began,  and  began  on  a  logical, 
sensible  basis.  It  was  an  education 
that  would  fit  him  to  see  and  appreciate 
the  physical  and  moral  conditions  that 
existed  in  his  own  family  and  neighbour 
hood,  and,  in  the  present  generation, 
would  fit  him  to  apply  himself  to  their 
relief.  By  chance  this  educated  Negro 

58 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

strayed  into  the  employ  of  this  white 
man.  His  employer  soon  learned  that 
this  Negro  not  only  had  a  knowledge 
of  science,  mathematics,  and  literature 
in  his  head,  but  in  his  hands  as  well. 
This  black  man  applied  his  knowledge 
of  agricultural  chemistry  to  the  redemp 
tion  of  the  soil;  and  soon  the  washes 
and  gulleys  began  to  disappear,  and 
the  waste  places  began  to  bloom.  New 
and  improved  machinery  in  a  few 
months  began  to  rob  labour  of  its  toil 
and  drudgery.  The  animals  were 
given  systematic  and  kindly  attention. 
Fences  were  repaired  and  rebuilt. 
Whitewash  and  paint  were  made  to  do 
duty.  Everywhere  order  slowly  began  to 
replace  confusion;  hope,  despair;  and 
profits,  losses.  As  he  observed,  day  by 
day,  new  life  and  strength  being  im 
parted  to  every  department  of  his  prop 
erty,  this  white  son  of  the  South  began 
revising  his  own  creed  regarding  the 
wisdom  of  educating  Negroes. 

59 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Hitherto  his  creed  regarding  the 
value  of  an  educated  Negro  had  been 
rather  a  plain  and  simple  one,  and  read: 
"The  only  end  that  could  be  accom- 
plished  by  educating  a  black  man  was 
to  enable  him  to  talk  properly  to  a 
mule;  and  the  Negro's  education  did 
great  injustice  to  the  mule,  since  the 
language  tended  to  confuse  him  and 
make  him  balky." 

We  need  not  continue  the  story,  ex 
cept  to  add  that  to-day  the  grasp  of  the 
hand  of  this  ex-slaveholder,  and  the 
listening  to  his  hearty  words  of  grati 
tude  and  commendation  for  the  educa 
tion  ,  of  the  Negro,  are  enough  to 
compensate  those  who  have  given  and 
those  who  have  worked  and  sacrificed 
for  the  elevation  of  my  people  through 
all  of  these  years.  If  we  are  patient, 
wise,  unselfish,  and  courageous,  such  ex 
amples  will  multiply  as  the  years  go  by. 

Before  closing  this  chapter, —  which,  I 
think,  has  clearly  shown  that  there  is  at 

60 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

present  a  very  distinct  lack  of  industrial 
training  in  the  South  among  the  Ne 
groes, —  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  in 
regard  to  certain  objections,  or  rather 
misunderstandings,  which  have  from 
time  to  time  arisen  in  regard  to  the 
matter. 

Many  have  had  the  thought  that  in 
dustrial  training  was  meant  to  make  the 
Negro  work,  much  as  he  worked  during 
the  days  of  slavery.  This  is  far  from 
my  idea  of  it.  If  this  training  has  any 
value  for  the  Negro,  as  it  has  for  the 
white  man,  it  consists  in  teaching  the 
Negro  how  rather  not  to  work,  but  how 
to  make  the  forces  of  nature  —  air, 
water,  horse-power,  steam,  and  electric 
power  —  work  for  him,  how  to  lift  labour 
up  out  of  toil  and  drudgery  into  that 
which  is  dignified  and  beautiful.  The 
Negro  in  the  South  works,  and  he 
works  hard;  but  his  lack  of  skill, 
coupled  with  ignorance,  causes  him  too 
often  to  do  his  work  in  the  most  costly 

6r 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

and  shiftless  manner,  and  this  has  kept 
him  near  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  in 
the  business  world.  I  repeat  that  in 
dustrial  education  teaches  the  Negro 
how  not  to  drudge  in  his  work.  Let 
him  who  doubts  this  contrast  the  Negro 
in  the  South  toiling  through  a  field  of 
oats  with  an  old-fashioned  reaper  with 
the  white  man  on  a  modern  farm  in 
the  West,  sitting  upon  a  modern  "  har 
vester,"  behind  two  spirited  horses,  with 
an  umbrella  over  him,  using  a  machine 
that  cuts  and  binds  the  oats  at  the  same 
time, —  doing  four  times  as  much  work 
as  the  black  man  with  one  half  the  la 
bour.  Let  us  give  the  black  man  so 
much  skill  and  brains  that  he  can  cut 
oats  like  the  white  man,  then  he  can 
compete  with  him.  The  Negro  works 
in  cotton,  and  has  no  trouble  so  long  as 
his  labour  is  confined  to  the  lower  forms 
of  work, —  the  planting,  the  picking,  and 
the  ginning;  but,  when  the  Negro  at 
tempts  to  follow  the  bale  of  cotton  up 

62 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

through  the  higher  stages,  through  the 
mill  where  it  is  made  into  the  finer 
fabrics,  where  the  larger  profit  appears, 
he  is  told  that  he  is  not  wanted. 

The  Negro  can  work  in  wood  and 
iron ;  and  no  one  objects  so  long  as  he 
confines  his  work  to  the  felling  of  trees 
and  sawing  of  boards,  to  the  digging  of 
iron  ore  and  making  of  pig  iron.  But, 
when  the  Negro  attempts  to  follow  this 
tree  into  the  factory  where  it  is  made 
into  desks  and  chairs  and  railway 
coaches,  or  when  he  attempts  to  follow 
the  pig  iron  into  the  factory  where  it  is 
made  into  knife-blades  and  watch- 
springs,  the  Negro's  trouble  begins. 
And  what  is  the  objection  ?  Simply 
that  the  Negro  lacks  the  skill,  coupled 
with  brains,  necessary  to  compete  with 
the  white  man,  or  that,  when  white  men 
refuse  to  work  with  coloured  men,  enough 
skilled  and  educated  coloured  men  cannot 
be  found  able  to  superintend  and  man 
every  part  of  any  one  large  industry;  and 

63 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

hence,  for  these  reasons,  they  are  con 
stantly  being  barred  out.  The  Negro 
must  become,  in  a  larger  measure,  an 
intelligent  producer  as  well  as  a  con 
sumer.  There  should  be  a  more  vital 
and  practical  connection  between  the 
Negro's  educated  brain  and  his  oppor 
tunity  of  earning  his  daily  living. 

A  very  weak  argument  often  used 
against  pushing  industrial  training  for 
the  Negro  is  that  the  Southern  white 
man  favours  it,  and,  therefore,  it  is  not 
best  for  the  Negro.  Although  I  was 
born  a  slave,  I  am  thankful  that  I  am 
able  so  far  to  rid  myself  of  prejudice  as 
to  be  able  to  accept  a  good  thing,  whether 
it  comes  from  a  black  man  or  a  white 
man,  a  Southern  man  or  a  Northern 
man.  Industrial  education  will  not  only 
help  the  Negro  directly  in  the  matter 
of  industrial  development,  but  also  in 
bringing  about  more  satisfactory  rela 
tions  between  him  and  the  Southern 
white  man.  For  the  sake  of  the  Negro 

64 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

and  the  Southern  white  man  there  are 
many  things  in  the  relation  of  the  two 
races  that  must  soon  be  changed.  We 
cannot  depend  wholly  upon  abuse  or 
condemnation  of  the  Southern  white 
man  to  bring  about  these  changes. 
Each  race  must  be  educated  to  see  mat 
ters  in  a  broad,  high,  generous,  Christian 
spirit:  we  must  bring  the  two  races  to 
gether,  not  estrange  them.  The  Negro 
must  live  for  all  time  by  the  side  of  the 
Southern  white  man.  The  man  is  un 
wise  who  does  not  cultivate  in  every 
manly  way  the  friendship  and  good  will 
of  his  next-door  neighbour,  whether  he 
be  black  or  white.  I  repeat  that  indus 
trial  training  will  help  cement  the  friend 
ship  of  the  two  races.  The  history  of 
the  world  proves  that  trade,  commerce, 
is  the  forerunner  of  peace  and  civilisa 
tion  as  between  races  and  nations.  The 
Jew,  who  was  once  in  about  the  same 
position  that  the  Negro  is  to-day,  has 
now  recognition,  because  he  has  en- 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

twined  himself  about  America  in  a  busi- 
ness  and  industrial  sense.  Say  or  think 
what  we  will,  it  is  the  tangible  or  visible 
element  that  is  going  to  tell  largely  dur 
ing  the  next  twenty  years  in  the  solu 
tion  of  the  race  problem. 


66 


CHAPTER   IV. 

,  ONE  of  the  main  problems  as  regards 
the  education  of  the  Negro  is  how  to 
have  him  use  his  education  to  the  best 
advantage  after  he  has  secured  it.  In 
saying  this,  I  do  not  want  to  be  under 
stood  as  implying  that  the  problem  of 
simple  ignorance  among  the  masses 
has  been  settled  in  the  South ;  for  this 
is  far  from  true.  The  amount  of  igno 
rance  still  prevailing  among  the  Ne 
groes,  especially  in  the  rural  districts,  is 
very  large  and  serious.  But  I  repeat, 
we  must  go  farther  if  we  would  secure 
the  best  results  and  most  gratifying 
returns  in  public  good  for  the  money 
spent  than  merely  to  put  academic  edu 
cation  in  the  Negro's  head  with  the 
idea  that  this  will  settle  everything. 

In  his  present  condition  it  is  impor 
tant,  in  seeking  after  what  he  terms  the 
ideal,  that  the  Negro  should  not  neglect 
to  prepare  himself  to  take  advantage  of 

67 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

the  opportunities  that  are  right  about 
his  door.  If  he  lets  these  opportunities 
slip,  I  fear  they  will  never  be  his  again. 
In  saying  this,  I  mean  always  that  the 
Negro  should  have  the  most  thorough 
mental  and  religious  training ;  for  with 
out  it  no  race  can  succeed.  Because  of 
his  past  history  and  environment  and 
present  condition  it  is  important  that  he 
be  carefully  guided  for  years  to  come  in 
the  proper  use  of  his  education.  Much 
valuable  time  has  been  lost  and  money 
spent  in  vain,  because  too  many  have 
not  been-  educated  with  the  idea  of 
fitting  them  to  do  well  the  things  which 
they  could  get  to  do.  Because  of  the 
lack  of  proper  direction  of  the  Negro's 
education,  some  good  friends  of  his, 
North  and  South,  have  not  taken  that 
interest  in  it  that  they  otherwise  would 
have  taken.  In  too  many  cases  where 
merely  literary  education  alone  has  been 
given  the  Negro  youth,  it  has  resulted 
in  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  his  im- 

68 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

portance  in  the  world,  and  an  increase 
of  wants  which  his  education  has  not 
fitted  him  to  supply. 

But,  in  discussing  this  subject,  one  is 
often  met  with  the  .question,  Should 
not  the  Negro  be  encouraged  to  pre 
pare  himself  for  any  station  in  life  that 
any  other  race  fills  ?  I  would  say,  Yes ; 
but  the  surest  way  for  the  Negro  to 
reach  the  highest  positions  is  to  prepare 
himself  to  fill  well  at  the  present  time 
the  basic  occupations.  This  will  give 
him  a  foundation  upon  which  to  stand 
while  securing  what  is  called  the  more 
exalted  positions.  The  Negro  has  the 
right  to  study  law;  but  success  will 
come  to  the  race  sooner  if  it  produces 
intelligent,  thrifty  farmers,  mechanics, 
and  housekeepers  to  support  the  law 
yers.  The  want  of  proper  direction  of 
the  use  of  the  Negro's  education  results 
in  tempting  too  many  to  live  mainly  by 
their  wits,  without  producing  anything 
that  is  of  real  value  to  the  world.  Let 
me  quote  examples  of  this. 

69 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Hayti,  Santo  Domingo,  and  Liberia, 
although  among  the  richest  countries  in 
natural  resources  in  the  world,  are  dis- 
couraging  examples  of  what  must  hap. 
pen  to  any  people  who  lack  industrial 
or  technical  training.  It  is  said  that 
in  Liberia  there  are  no  wagons,  wheel 
barrows,  or  public  roads,  showing  very 
plainly  that  there  is  a  painful  absence 
of  public  spirit  and  thrift.  What  is 
true  of  Liberia  is  also  true  in  a  measure 
of  the  republics  of  Hayti  and  Santo 
Domingo.  The  people  have  not  yet 
learned  the  lesson  of  turning  their  edu 
cation  toward  the  cultivation  of  the  soil 
and  the  making  of  the  simplest  imple 
ments  for  agricultural  and  other  forms 
of  labour. 

Much  would  have  been  done  toward 
laying  a  sound  foundation  for  general 
prosperity  if  some  attention  had  been 
spent  in  this  direction.  General  educa 
tion  itself  has  no  bearing  on  the  subject 
at  issue,  because,  while  there  is  no  well- 

70 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

established  public  school  system  in 
either  of  these  countries,  yet  large  num 
bers  of  men  of  both  Hayti  and  Santo 
Domingo  have  been  educated  in  France 
for  generations.  This  is  especially  true 
of  Hayti.  The  education  has  been  al 
together  in  the  direction  of  belles  lettres, 
however,  and  practically  little  in  the 
direction  of  industrial  and  scientific 
education. 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge 
that  Hayti  has  to  send  abroad  even  to 
secure  engineers  for  her  men-of-war,  for 
plans  for  her  bridges  and  other  work 
requiring  technical  knowledge  and  skill. 
I  should  very  much  regret  to  see  any 
such  condition  obtain  in  any  large 
measure  as  regards  the  coloured  people 
in  the  South,  and  yet  this  will  be  our 
fate  if  industrial  education  is  much 
longer  neglected.  We  have  spent 
much  time  in  the  South  in  educating 
men  and  women  in  letters  alone,  too, 
and  must  now  turn  our  attention  more 

7* 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

than  ever  toward  educating  them  so  as 
to  supply  their  wants  and  needs.  It  is 
more  lamentable  to  see  educated  people 
unable  to  support  themselves  than  to 
see  uneducated  people  in  the  same  con- 
dition.  Ambition  all  along  this  line 
must  be  stimulated. 

If  educated  men  and  women  of  the 
race  will  see  and  acknowledge  the 
necessity  of  practical  industrial  training 
and  go  to  work  with  a  zeal  and  deter 
mination,  their  example  will  be  followed 
by  others,  who  are  now  without  ambi 
tion  of  any  kind. 

The  race  cannot  hope  to  come  into 
its  own  until  the  young  coloured  men 
and  women  make  up  their  minds  to 
assist  in  the  general  development  along 
these  lines.  The  elder  men  and  women 
trained  in  the  hard  school  of  slavery, 
and  who  so  long  possessed  all  of  the 
labour,  skilled  and  unskilled,  of  the 
South,  are  dying  out ;  their  places  must 
be  filled  by  their  children,  or  we  shall 

72 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

lose  our  hold  upon  these  occupations. 
Leaders  in  these  occupations  are  needed 
now  more  than  ever. 

It  is  not  enough  that  the  idea  be  in 
culcated  that  coloured  people  should 
get  book  learning;  along  with  it  they 
should  be  taught  that  book  education 
and  industrial  development  must  go 
hand  in  hand.  No  race  which  fails  to 
do  this  can  ever  hope  to  succeed.  Phil 
lips  Brooks  gave  expression  to  the  sen 
timent:  "  One  generation  gathers  the 
material,  and  the  next  generation  builds 
the  palaces."  As  I  understand  it,  he 
wished  to  inculcate  the  idea  that  one 
generation  lays  the  foundation  for  suc 
ceeding  generations.  The  rough  affairs 
of  life  very  largely  fall  to  the  earlier 
generation,  while  the  next  one  has  the 
privilege  of  dealing  with  the  higher  and 
more  aesthetic  things  of  life.  This  is 
true  of  all  generations,  of  all  peoples; 
and,  unless  the  foundation  is  deeply  laid, 
it  is  impossible  for  the  succeeding  one 

73 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

to  have  a  career  in  any  way  approaching 
success.  As  regards  the  coloured  men 
of  the  South,  as  regards  the  coloured 
men  of  the  United  States,  this  is  the 
generation  which,  in  a  large  measure, 
must  gather  the  material  with  which  to 
lay  the  foundation  for  future  success. 

Some  time  ago  it  was  my  misfortune 
to  see  a  Negro  sixty-five  years  old  living 
in  poverty  and  filth.  I  was  disgusted, 
and  said  to  him,  "  If  you  are  worthy  of 
your  freedom,  you  would  surely  have 
changed  your  condition  during  the 
thirty  years  of  freedom  which  you  have  ; 
enjoyed."  He  answered :  "  I  do  want 
to  change.  I  want  to  do  something 
for  my  wife  and  children ;  but  I  do  not  j 
know  how, —  I  do  not  know  what  to  do." 
I  looked  into  his  lean  and  haggard  face, 
and  realised  more  deeply  than  ever  be 
fore  the  absolute  need  of  captains  of 
industry  among  the  great  masses  of  the 
coloured  people. 

It   is   possible   for  a  race  or  an  in- 

74 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 


dividual  to  have  mental  development 
and  yet  be  so  handicapped  by  custom, 
prejudice,  and  lack  of  employment  as 
to  dwarf  and  discourage  the  whole 
life.  This  is  the  condition  that  pre 
vails  among  the  race  in  many  of  the 
large  cities  of  the  North;  and  it  is  to 
prevent  this  same  condition  in  the  South 
that  I  plead  with  all  the  earnestness  of 
my  heart.  Mental  development  alone 
will  not  give  us  what  we  want,  but 
mental  development  tied  to  hand  and 
heart  training  will  be  the  salvation  of 
the  Negro. 

In  many  respects  the  next  twenty 
years  are  going  to  be  the  most  seri 
ous  in  the  history  of  the  race.  Within 
this  period  it  will  be  largely  decided 
whether  the  Negro  will  be  able  to  re 
tain  the  hold  which  he  now  has  upon 
the  industries  of  the  South  or  whether 
his  place  will  be  filled  by  white  people 
from  a  distance.  The  only  way  he  can 
prevent  the  industrial  occupations  slip- 

75 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

ping  from  him  in  all  parts  of  the  South, 
as  they  have  already  in  certain  parts, 
is  for  all  educators,  ministers,  and 
friends  of  the  race  to  unite  in  pushing 
forward  in  a  whole-souled  manner  the 
industrial  or  business  development  of 
the  Negro,  whether  in  school  or  out 
of  school.  Four  times  as  many  young 
men  and  women  of  the  race  should  be 
receiving  industrial  training.  Just  now 
the  Negro  is  in  a  position  to  feel  and 
appreciate  the  need  of  this  in  a  way  that 
no  one  else  can.  No  one  can  fully  ap 
preciate  what  I  am  saying  who  has  not 
walked  the  streets  of  a  Northern  city 
day  after  day  seeking  employment,  only 
to  find  every  door  closed  against  him  on 
account  of  his  colour,  except  in  menial 
service.  It  is  to  prevent  the  same  thing 
taking  place  in  the  South  that  I  plead. 
We  may  argue  that  mental  develop 
ment  will  take  care  of  all  this.  Mental 
development  is  a  good  thing.  Gold  is 
also  a  good  thing,  but  gold  is  worthless 

76 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

without  an  opportunity  to  make  itself 
touch  the  world  of  trade.  Education 
increases  greatly  an  individual's  wants. 
It  is  cruel  in  many  cases  to  increase 
the  wants  of  the  black  youth  by  mental 
development  alone  without,  at  the  same 
time,  increasing  his  ability  to  supply 
these  increased  wants  in  occupations  in 
which  he  can  find  employment. 

The  place  made  vacant  by  the  death 
of  the  old  coloured  man  who  was  trained 
as  a  carpenter  during  slavery,  and  who 
since  the  war  had  been  the  leading  con 
tractor  and  builder  in  the  Southern  town, 
had  to  be  filled.  No  young  coloured  car 
penter  capable  of  filling  his  place  could 
be  found.  The  result  was  that  his  place 
was  filled  by  a  white  mechanic  from  the 
North,  or  from  Europe,  or  from  else 
where.  What  is  true  of  carpentry  and 
house-building  in  this  case  is  true,  in  a 
degree,  in  every  skilled  occupation; 
and  it  is  becoming  true  of  common 
labour.  I  do  not  mean  to  s^y  that  all  of 

77 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

the  skilled  labour  has  been  taken  out  of 
the  Negro's  hands;  but  I  do  mean  to  say 
that  in  no  part  of  the  South  is  he  so 
strong  in  the  matter  of  skilled  labour  as 
he  was  twenty  years  ago,  except  possibly 
in  the  country  districts  and  the  smaller 
towns.  In  the  more  northern  of  the 
Southern  cities,  such  as  Richmond  and 
Baltimore,  the  change  is  most  apparent; 
and  it  is  being  felt  in  every  Southern  city. 
Wherever  the  Negro  has  lost  ground  in 
dustrially  in  the  South,  it  is  not  because 
there  is  prejudice  against  him  as  a  skilled 
labourer  on  the  part  of  the  native  South 
ern  white  man;  the  Southern  white 
man  generally  prefers  to  do  business  with 
the  Negro  mechanic  rather  than  with  a 
white  one,  because  he  is  accustomed  to 
do  business  with  the  Negro  in  this  re 
spect.  There  is  almost  no  prejudice 
against  the  Negro  in  the  South  in  mat 
ters  of  business,  so  far  as  the  native 
whites  are  concerned ;  and  here  is  the 
entering  wedge  for  the  solution  of  the 

78 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

race  problem.  But  too  often,  where  the 
white  mechanic  or  factory  operative 
from  the  North  gets  a  hold,  the  trades- 
union  soon  follows,  and  the  Negro  is 
crowded  to  the  wall. 

But  what  is  the  remedy  for  this  condi 
tion  ?  First,  it  is  most  important  that 
the  Negro  and  his  white  friends  honestly 
face  the  facts  as  they  are ;  otherwise  the 
time  will  not  be  very  far  distant  when 
the  Negro  of  the  South  will  be  crowded 
to  the  ragged  edge  of  industrial  life  as 
he  is  in  the  North.  There  is  still  time 
to  repair  the  damage  and  to  reclaim 
what  we  have  lost. 

I  stated  in  the  beginning  that  in 
dustrial  education  for  the  Negro  has 
been  misunderstood.  This  has  been 
chiefly  because  some  have  gotten  the 
idea  that  industrial  development  was  op 
posed  to  the  Negro's  higher  mental  de 
velopment.  This  has  little  or  nothing 
to  do  with  the  subject  under  discussion; 
we  should  no  longer  permit  such  an 

79 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

idea  to  aid  in  depriving  the  Negro  of  the 
legacy  in  the  form  of  skilled  labour  that 
was  purchased  by  his  forefathers  at  the 
price  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of 
slavery.  I  would  say  to  the  black  boy 
what  I  would  say  to  the  white  boy,  Get 
all  the  mental  development  that  your 
time  and  pocket-book  will  allow  of, —  the 
more,  the  better;  but  the  time  has'come 
when  a  larger  proportion  —  not  all,  for 
we  need  professional  men  and  women — 
of  the  educated  coloured  men  and  women 
should  give  themselves  to  industrial  or 
business  life.  The  professional  class 
will  be  helped  in  so  far  as  the  rank 
and  file  have  an  industrial  foundation,  so 
that  they  can  pay  for  professional  ser 
vice.  Whether  they  receive  the  training 
of  the  hand  while  pursuing  their  aca 
demic  training  or  after  their  academic 
training  is  finished,  or  whether  they  will 
get  their  literary  training  in  an  indus 
trial  school  or  college,  are  questions 
which  each  individual  must  decide  for 

80 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

himself.  No  matter  how  or  where  edu 
cated,  the  educated  men  and  women 
must  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  race  in 
the  effort  to  get  and  hold  its  industrial 
footing.  I  would  not  have  the  standard 
of  mental  development  lowered  one  whit; 
for,  with  the  Negro,  as  with  all  races, 
mental  strength  is  the  basis  of  all  prog 
ress.  But  I  would  have  a  large  meas 
ure  of  this  mental  strength  reach  the 
Negroes'  actual  needs  through  the  me 
dium  of  the  hand.  Just  now  the  need 
is  not  so  much  for  the  common  carpen 
ters,  brick  masons,  farmers,  and  laundry 
women  as  for  industrial  leaders  who,  in 
addition  to  their  practical  knowledge, 
can  draw  plans,  make  estimates,  take 
contracts;  those  who  understand  the 
latest  methods  of  truck-gardening  and 
the  science  underlying  practical  agricult 
ure;  those  who  understand  machinery 
to  the  extent  that  they  can  operate  steam 
and  electric  laundries,  so  that  our  women 
can  hold  on  to  the  laundry  work  in  the 

81 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

South,  that  is  so  fast  drifting  into  the 
hands  of  others  in  the  large  cities  and 
towns. 

Having  tried  to  show  in  previous 
chapters  to  what  a  condition  the  lack 
of  practical  training  has  brought  mat 
ters  in  the  South,  and  by  the  examples 
in  this  chapter  where  this  state  of  things 
may  go  if  allowed  to  run  its  course,  I 
wish  now  to  show  what  practical  train 
ing,  even  in  its  infancy  among  us,  has 
already  accomplished. 

I  noticed,  when  I  first  went  to  Tuske- 
gee  to  start  the  Tuskegee  Normal  and 
Industrial  Institute,  that  some  of  the 
white  people  about  there  rather  looked 
doubtfully  at  me ;  and  I  thought  I  could 
get  their  influence  by  telling  them  how 
much  algebra  and  history  and  science 
and  all  those  things  I  had  in  my  head, 
but  they  treated  me  about  the  same  as 
they  did  before.  They  didn't  seem  to 
care  about  the  algebra,  history,  and 
science  that  were  in  my  head  only. 

82 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Those  people  never  even  began  to  have 
confidence  in  me  until  we  commenced 
to  build  a  large  three-story  brick  build 
ing,  and  then  another  and  another,  until 
now  we  have  forty  buildings  which 
have  been  erected  largely  by  the  labour 
of  our  students ;  and  to-day  we  have  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  all  the  white 
people  in  that  section. 

There  is  an  unmistakable  influence 
that  comes  over  a  white  man  when  he 
sees  a  black  man  living  in  a  two-story 
brick  house  that  has  been  paid  for.  I 
need  not  stop  to  explain.  It  is  the 
tangible  evidence  of  prosperity.  You 
know  Thomas  doubted  the  Saviour  after 
he  had  risen  from  the  dead;  and  the 
Lord  said  to  Thomas,  "Reach  hither 
thy  finger,  and  behold  my  hands ;  and 
reach  hither  thy  hand,  and  thrust  it  into 
my  side."  The  tangible  evidence  con 
vinced  Thomas. 

We  began,  soon  after  going  to  Tus- 
kegee,  the  manufacture  of  bricks.  We 

83 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

also  started  a  wheelwright  establish 
ment  and  the  manufacture  of  good 
wagons  and  buggies;  and  the  white 
people  came  to  our  institution  for  that 
kind  of  work.  We  also  put  in  a  print 
ing  plant,  and  did  job  printing  for  the 
white  people  as  well  as  for  the  blacks. 

By  having  something  that  these  peo 
ple  wanted,  we  came  into  contact  with 
them,  and  our  interest  became  inter 
linked  with  their  interest,  until  to-day 
we  have  no  warmer  friends  anywhere  in 
the  country  than  we  have  among  the 
white  people  of  Tuskegee.  We  have 
found  by  experience  that  the  best  way 
to  get  on  well  with  people  is  to  have 
something  that  they  want,  and  that  is 
why  we  emphasise  this  Christian  Indus 
trial  Education. 

Not  long  ago  I  heard  a  conversation 
among  three  white  men  something  like 
this.  Two  of  them  were  berating  the 
Negro,  saying  the  Negro  was  shiftless 
and  lazy,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 

84 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

The  third  man  listened  to  their  remarks 
for  some  time  in  silence,  and  then  he 
said :  "  I  don't  know  what  your  experi 
ence  has  been ;  but  there  is  a  c  nigger ' 
down  our  way  who  owns  a  good  house 
and  lot  with  about  fifty  acres  of  ground. 
His  house  is  well  furnished,  and  he  has 
got  some  splendid  horses  and  cattle. 
He  is  intelligent  and  has  a  bank  ac 
count.  I  don't  know  how  the  *  niggers' 
are  in  your  community,  but  Tobe  Jones 
is  a  gentleman.  Once,  when  I  was  hard 
up,  I  went  to  Tobe  Jones  and  borrowed 
fifty  dollars ;  and  he  hasn't  asked  me  for 
it  yet  I  don't  know  what  kind  of 
1  niggers '  you  have  down  your  way,  but 
Tobe  Jones  is  a  gentleman." 

Now  what  we  want  to  do  is  to  multi 
ply  and  place  in  every  community  these 
Tobe  Joneses;  and,  just  in  so  far  as 
we  can  place  them  throughout  the 
South  this  race  question  will  disappear. 

Suppose  there  was  a  black  man  who 
had  business  for  the  railroads  to  the 

3S 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

amount  of  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
Do  you  suppose  that,  when  that  black 
man  takes  his  family  aboard  the  train, 
they  are  going  to  put  him  into  a  Jim 
Crow  car  and  run  the  risk  of  losing  that 
ten  thousand  dollars  a  year?  No,  they 
will  put  on  a  Pullman  palace  car  for 
him. 

Some  time  ago  a  certain  coloured  man 
was  passing  through  the  streets  of  one 
of  the  little  Southern  towns,  and  he 
chanced  to  meet  two  white  men  on  the 
street.  It  happened  that  this  coloured 
man  owns  two  or  three  houses  and  lots, 
has  a  good  education  and  a  comfortable 
bank  account.  One  of  the  white  men 
turned  to  the  other,  and  said:  "By 
Gosh !  It  is  all  I  can  do  to  keep  from 
calling  that  'nigger1  Mister."  That's 
the  point  we  want  to  get  to. 

Nothing  else  so  soon  brings  about 
right  relations  between  the  two  races  in 
the  South  as  the  commercial  progress  of 
the  Negro.  Friction  between  the  races 

86 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

will  pass  away  as  the  black  man,  by 
reason  of  his  skill,  intelligence,  and 
character,  can  produce  something  that 
the  white  man  wants  or  respects  in  the 
commercial  world.  This  is  another  rea 
son  why  at  Tuskegee  we  push  industrial 
training.  We  find  that  as  every  year 
we  put  into  a  Southern  community  col 
oured  men  who  can  start  a  brickyard, 
a  saw-mill,  a  tin-shop,  or  a  printing- 
office, —  men  who  produce  something 
that  makes  the  white  man  partly  de 
pendent  upon  the  Negro  instead  of  all 
the  dependence  being  on  the  other  side, 
—  a  change  for  the  better  takes  place 
in  the  relations  of  the  races.  It  is 
through  the  dairy  farm,  the  truck- 
garden,  the  trades,  the  commercial  life, 
largely,  that  the  Negro  is  to  find  his 
way  to  respect  and  confidence. 

What  is  the  permanent  value  of  the 
Hampton  and  Tuskegee  system  of 
training  to  the  South,  in  a  broader 
sense?  In  connection  with  this,  it  is 

87 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

well  to  bear  in  mind  that  slavery  un- 
consciously  taught  the  white  man  that 
labour  with  the  hands  was  something  fit 
for  the  Negro  only,  and  something  for 
the  white  man  to  come  into  contact 
with  just  as  little  as  possible.  It  is  true 
that  there  was  a  large  class  of  poor 
white  people  who  laboured  with  the 
hands,  but  they  did  it  because  they 
were  not  able  to  secure  Negroes  to 
work  for  them;  and  these  poor  whites 
were  constantly  trying  to  imitate  the 
slaveholding  class  in  escaping  labour, 
as  they,  too,  regarded  it  as  anything 
but  elevating.  But  the  Negro,  in  turn, 
looked  down  upon  the  poor  whites  with 
a  certain  contempt  because  they  had  to 
work.  The  Negro,  it  is  to  be  borne  in 
mind,  worked  under  constant  protest, 
because  he  felt  that  his  labour  was  being 
unjustly  requited;  and  he  spent  almost 
as  much  effort  in  planning  how  to  es 
cape  work  as  in  learning  how  to  work. 
Labour  with  him  was  a  badge  of  degra- 

88 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

dation.  The  white  man  was  held  up 
before  him  as  the  highest  type  of  civi 
lisation,  but  the  Negro  noted  that  this 
highest  type  of  civilisation  himself  did 
little  labour  with  the  hand.  Hence  he 
argued  that,  the  less  work  he  did,  the 
more  nearly  he  would  be  like  the  white 
man.  Then,  in  addition  to  these  in 
fluences,  the  slave  system  discouraged 
labour-saving  machinery.  To  use  labour- 
saving  machinery,  intelligence  was  re 
quired;  and  intelligence  and  slavery 
were  not  on  friendly  terms.  Hence  the 
Negro  always  associated  labour  with 
toil,  drudgery,  something  to  be  escaped. 
When  the  Negro  first  became  free,  his 
idea  of  education  was  that  it  was  some 
thing  that  would  soon  put  him  in  the 
same  position  as  regards  work  that  his 
recent  master  had  occupied.  Out  of 
these  conditions  grew  the  habit  of  put 
ting  off  till  to-morrow  and  the  day  after 
the  duty  that  should  be  done  promptly 
to-day.  The  leaky  house  was  not  re- 

89 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

paired  while  the  sun  shone,  for  then  the 
rain  did  not  come  through.  While  the 
rain  was  falling,  no  one  cared  to  expose 
himself  to  stop  the  rain.  The  plough, 
on  the  same  principle,  was  left  where  the 
last  furrow  was  run,  to  rot  and  rust  in 
the  field  during  the  winter.  There 
was  no  need  to  repair  the  wooden 
chimney  that  was  exposed  to  the  fire, 
because  water  could  be  thrown  on  it 
when  it  was  on  fire.  There  was  no 
need  to  trouble  about  the  payment  of  a 
debt  to-day,  because  it  could  be  paid  as 
well  next  week  or  next  year.  Besides 
these  conditions,  the  whole  South  at  the 
close  of  the  war  was  without  proper 
food,  clothing,  and  shelter, —  was  in 
need  of  habits  of  thrift  and  economy 
and  of  something  laid  up  for  a  rainy 
day. 

To  me  it  seemed  perfectly  plain  that 
here  was  a  condition  of  things  that 
could  not  be  met  by  the  ordinary  proc 
ess  of  education.  At  Tuskegee  we 

90  ^ 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

became  convinced  that  the  thing  to  do 
was  to  make  a  careful,  systematic  study 
of    the    condition    and    needs     of     the 
South,  especially   the   Black    Belt,  and 
to  bend  our  efforts  in  the  direction  of 
meeting  these  needs,  whether  we  were 
following   a  well-beaten   track  or  were 
hewing  out  a  new  path  to  meet  condi 
tions  probably  without  a  parallel  in  the 
world.     After  eighteen  years  of  experi 
ence  and  observation,   what   is   the   re 
sult?     Gradually,    but   surely,    we  find 
that  all  through  the  South  the  disposi 
tion  to  look  upon  labour  as  a  disgrace 
is  on  the  wane;  and  the  parents  who 
themselves    sought  to  escape  work  are 
so  anxious  to  give  their  children  train 
ing    in    intelligent    labour    that   every 
institution     which     gives     training     in 
the  handicrafts  is  crowded,  and  many 
(among  them  Tuskegee)  have  to  refuse 
admission   to   hundreds   of    applicants. 
The  influence  of  Hampton  and  Tuske 
gee   is   shown    again  by  the  fact   that 

91 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

almost  every  little  school  at  the  remot 
est  cross-road  is  anxious  to  be  known 
as  an  industrial  school,  or,  as  some  of 
the  coloured  people  call  it,  an  "  indus- 
trous"  school. 

The  social  lines  that  were  once 
sharply  drawn  between  those  who 
laboured  with  the  hands  and  those 
who  did  not  are  disappearing.  Those 
who  formerly  sought  to  escape  labour, 
now  when  they  see  that  brains  and  skill 
rob  labour  of  the  toil  and  drudgery  once 
associated  with  it,  instead  of  trying  to 
avoid  it,  are  willing  to  pay  to  be  taught 
how  to  engage  in  it  The  South  is  be 
ginning  to  see  labour  raised  up,  digni 
fied  and  beautified,  and  in  this  sees  its 
salvation.  In  proportion  as  the  love  of 
labour  grows,  the  large  idle  class,  which 
has  long  been  one  of  the  curses  of  the 
South,  disappears.  As  people  become 
absorbed  in  their  own  affairs,  they  have  . 
less  time  to  attend  to  everybody's  else 
business. 

92 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

The  South  is  still  an  undeveloped 
and  unsettled  country,  and  for  the  next 
half-century  and  more  the  greater  part 
of  the  energy  of  the  masses  will  be 
needed  to  develop  its  material  re 
sources.  Any  force  that  brings  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  people  to  have  a 
greater  love  of  industry  is  therefore  es 
pecially  valuable.  This  result  industrial 
education  is  surely  bringing  about.  It 
stimulates  production  and  increases 
trade, — 'trade  between  the  races;  and 
in  this  new  and  engrossing  relation 
both  forget  the  past.  The  white  man 
respects  the  vote  of  a  coloured  man 
who  does  ten  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  business ;  and,  the  more  business  the 
coloured  man  has,  the  more  careful  he 
is  how  he  votes. 

Immediately  after  the  war  there  was 
a  large  class  of  Southern  people  who 
feared  that  the  opening  of  the  free 
schools  to  the  f reedmen  and  the  poor 
whites  —  the  education  of  the  head 

93 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

alone  —  would  result  merely  in  increas 
ing  the  class  who  sought  to  escape 
labour,  and  that  the  South  would  soon 
be  overrun  by  the  idle  and  vicious. 
But,  as  the  results  of  industrial  com- 
bined  with  academic  training  begin  to 
show  themselves  in  hundreds  of  com- 
munities  that  have  been  lifted  up,  these 
former  prejudices  against  education  are 
being  removed.  Many  of  those  who  a 
few  years  ago  opposed  Negro  education 
are  now  among  its  warmest  advocates. 

This  industrial  training,  emphasising, 
as  it  does,  the  idea  of  economic  produc 
tion,  is  gradually  bringing  the  South 
to  the  point  where  it  is  feeding  itself. 
After  the  war,  what  profit  the  South 
made  out  of  the  cotton  crop  it  spent 
outside  of  the  South  to  purchase  food 
supplies, —  meat,  bread,  canned  vegeta 
bles,  and  the  like, —  but  the  improved 
methods  of  agriculture  are  fast  chang 
ing  this  custom.  With  the  newer 
methods  of  labour,  which  teach  prompt- 

94 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

ness  and  system  and  emphasise  the 
worth  of  the  beautiful,  the  moral  value 
of  the  well-painted  house,  the  fence  with 
every  paling  and  nail  in  its  place,  is 
bringing  to  bear  upon  the  South  an  in 
fluence  that  is  making  it  a  new  country 
in  industry,  education,  and  religion. 

It  seems  to  me  I  cannot  do  better 
than  to  close  this  chapter  on  the  needs 
of  the  Southern  Negro  than  by  quoting 
from  a  talk  given  to  the  students  at 
Tuskegee :  — 

"  I  want  to  be  a  little  more  specific  in 
showing  you  what  you  have  to  do  and 
how  you  must  do  it. 

"One  trouble  with  us  is  —  and  the 
same  is  true  of  any  young  people,  no 
matter  of  what  race  or  condition  —  we 
have  too  many  stepping-stones.  We 
step  all  the  time,  from  one  thing  to 
another.  You  find  a  young  man  who 
is  learning  to  make  bricks ;  and,  if  you 
ask  him  what  he  intends  to  do  after 
learning  the  trade,  in  too  many  cases 

95 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

he  will  answer,  '  Oh,  I  am  simply  work 
ing  at  this  trade  as  a  stepping-stone  to 
something  higher/  You  see  a  young 
man  working  at  the  brick-mason's  trade, 
and  he  will  be  apt  to  say  the  same 
thing.  And  young  women  learning  to 
be  milliners  and  dressmakers  will  tell 
you  the  same.  All  are  stepping  to 
something  higher.  And  so  we  always 
go  on,  stepping  somewhere,  never  get 
ting  hold  of  anything  thoroughly.  Now 
we  must  stop  this  stepping  business, 
having  so  many  stepping-stones.  In 
stead,  we  have  got  to  take  hold  of 
these  important  industries,  and  stick  to 
them  until  we  master  them  thoroughly. 
There  is  no  nation  so  thorough  in  their 
education  as  the  Germans.  Why? 
Simply  because  the  German  takes  hold 
of  a  thing,  and  sticks  to  it  until  he 
masters  it.  Into  it  he  puts  brains  and 
thought  from  morning  to  night.  He 
reads  all  the  best  books  and  journals 
bearing  on  that  particular  study,  and  he 

96 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

feels  that  nobody  else  knows  so  much 
about  it  as  he  does. 

"Take  any  of  the  industries  I  have 
mentioned,  that  of  brick-making,  for  ex 
ample.  Any  one  working  at  that  trade 
should  determine  to  learn  all  there  is  to 
be  known  about  making  bricks ;  read  all 
the  papers  and  journals  bearing  upon 
the  trade ;  learn  not  only  to  make  com 
mon  hand-bricks,  but  pressed  bricks, 
fire-bricks, —  in  short,  the  finest  and  best 
bricks  there  are  to  be  made.  And,  when 
you  have  learned  all  you  can  by  reading 
and  talking  with  other  people,  you 
should  travel  from  one  city  to  another, 
and  learn  how  the  best  bricks  are  made. 
And  then,  when  you  go  into  business 
for  yourself,  you  will  make  a  reputation 
for  being  the  best  brick-maker  in  the 
community;  and  in  this  way  you  will 
put  yourself  on  your  feet,  and  become 
a  helpful  and  useful  citizen.  When  a 
young  man  does  this,  goes  out  into  one 
of  these  Southern  cities  and  makes  a 

97 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

reputation  for  himself,  that  person  wins 
a  reputation  that  is  going  to  give  him  a 
standing  and  position.  And,  when  the 
children  of  that  successful  brick-maker 
come  along,  they  will  be  able  to  take 
a  higher  position  in  life.  The  grand 
children  will  be  able  to  take  a  still 
higher  position.  And  it  will  be  traced 
back  to  that  grandfather  who,  by  his 
great  success  as  a  brick-maker,  laid  a 
foundation  that  was  of  the  right  kind. 

"What  I  have  said  about  these  two 
trades  can  be  applied  with  equal  force 
to  the  trades  followed  by  women.  Take 
the  matter  of  millinery.  There  is  no 
good  reason  why  there  should  not  be, 
in  each  principal  city  in  the  South,  at 
least  three  or  four  competent  coloured 
women  in  charge  of  millinery  establish 
ments.  But  what  is  the  trouble  ? 

"  Instead  of  making  the  most  of 
our  opportunities  in  this  industry,  the 
temptation,  in  too  many  cases,  is  to  be 
music-teachers,  teachers  of  elocution, 

98 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

or  something  else  that  few  of  the  race 
at  present  have  any  money  to  pay  for, 
or  the  opportunity  to  earn  money  to 
pay  for,  simply  because  there  is  no 
foundation.  But,  when  more  coloured 
people  succeed  in  the  more  fundamental 
occupations,  they  will  then  be  able  to 
make  better  provision  for  their  children 
in  what  are  termed  the  higher  walks  of 
life. 

"And,  now,  what  I  have  said  about 
these  important  industries  is  especially 
true  of  the  important  industry  of  agri 
culture.  We  are  living  in  a  country 
where,  if  we  are  going  to  succeed  at  all, 
we  are  going  to  do  so  largely  by  what  we 
raise  out  of  the  soil.  The  people  in  those 
backward  countries  I  have  told  you  about 
have  failed  to  give  attention  to  the  cul 
tivation  of  the  soil,  to  the  invention  and 
use  of  improved  agricultural  implements 
and  machinery.  Without  this  no  peo 
ple  can  succeed.  No  race  which  fails 
to  put  brains  into  agriculture  can  suc- 

99 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

ceed;  and,  if  you  want  to  realize  the 
truth  of  this  statement,  go  with  me  into 
the  back  districts  of  some  of  our  South 
ern  States,  and  you  will  find  many 
people  in  poverty,  and  yet  they  are 
surrounded  by  a  rich  country. 

"  A  race,  like  an  individual,  has  got  to 
have  a  reputation.  Such  a  reputation 
goes  a  long  way  toward  helping  a  race 
or  an  individual ;  and,  when  we  have  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  such  a  reputation,  we 
shall  find  that  a  great  many  of  the  dis 
couraging  features  of  our  life  will  melt 
away. 

"  Reputation  is  what  people  think  we 
are,  and  a  great  deal  depends  on  that. 
When  a  race  gets  a  reputation  along 
certain  lines,  a  great  many  things  which 
now  seem  complex,  difficult  to  attain, 
and  are  most  discouraging,  will  disap 
pear. 

"When  you  say  that  an  engine  is 
a  Corliss  engine,  people  understand 
that  that  engine  is  a  perfect  piece  of 

100 


Future  of  the  American   Negro 


mechanical  work,  —  perfect  as  far  as 
human  skill  and  ingenuity  can  make  it 
perfect.  You  say  a  car  is  a  Pullman 
car.  That  is  all  ;  but  what  does  it  mean? 
It  means  that  the  builder  of  that  car  got 
a  reputation  at  the  outset  for  thorough, 
perfect  work,  for  turning  out  everything 
in  first-class  shape.  And  so  with  a  race. 
You  cannot  keep  back  very  long  a  race 
that  has  the  reputation  for  doing  per 
fect  work  in  everything  that  it  under 
takes.  And  then  we  have  got  to  get  a 
reputation  for  economy.  Nobody  cares 
to  associate  with  an  individual  in  busi 
ness  or  otherwise  who  has  a  reputation 
for  being  a  trifling  spendthrift,  who 
spends  his  money  for  things  that  he  can 
very  easily  get  along  without,  who 
spends  his  money  for  clothing,  gewgaws, 
superficialities,  and  other  things,  when 
he  has  not  got  the  necessaries  of  life. 
We  want  to  give  the  race  a  reputation 
for  being  frugal  and  saving  in  every 
thing.  Then  we  want  to  get  a  reputa- 

IOI 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

tion  for  being  industrious.  Now,  re 
member  these  three  things:  Get  a  repu- 
tation  for  being  skilled.  It  will  not  do 
for  a  few  here  and  there  to  have  it:  the 
race  must  have  the  reputation.  Get  a 
reputation  for  being  so  skilful,  so  indus 
trious,  that  you  will  not  leave  a  job  until 
it  is  as  nearly  perfect  as  any  one  can 
make  it.  And  then  we  want  to  make  a 
reputation  for  the  race  for  being  honest, 
—  honest  at  all  times  and  under  all  cir 
cumstances.  A  few  individuals  here 
and  there  have  it,  a  few  communities 
have  it;  but  the  race  as  a  mass  must 
get  it. 

"You  recall  that  story  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  how,  when  he  was  postmaster 
at  a  small  village,  he  had  left  on  his 
hands  $1.50  which  the  government  did 
not  call  for.  Carefully  wrapping  up  this 
money  in  a  handkerchief,  he  kept  it  for 
ten  years.  Finally,  one  day,  the  govern- 
ment  agent  called  for  this  amount;  and 
it  was  promptly  handed  over  to  him  by 

102 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Abraham  Lincoln,  who  told  him  that 
during  all  those  ten  years  he  had  never 
touched  a  cent  of  that  money.  He 
made  it  a  principle  of  his  life  never  to 
use  other  people's  money.  That  trait 
of  his  character  helped  him  along  to  the 
Presidency.  The  race  wants  to  get  a 
reputation  for  being  strictly  honest  in 
all  its  dealings  and  transactions, —  hon 
est  in  handling  money,  honest  in  all  its 
dealings  with  its  fellow-men. 

"And  then  we  want  to  get  a  repu 
tation  for  being  thoughtful.  This  I 
want  to  emphasise  more  than  anything 
else.  We  want  to  get  a  reputation 
for  doing  things  without  being  told  to 
do  them  every  time.  If  you  have  work 
to  do,  think  about  it  so  constantly,  inves 
tigate  and  read  about  it  so  thoroughly, 
that  you  will  always  be  finding  ways 
and  means  of  improving  that  work. 
The  average  person  going  to  work 
becomes  a  regular  machine,  never  giv 
ing  the  matter  of  improving  the  methods 

103 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

of  his  work  a  thought.  He  is  never  at 
his  work  before  the  appointed  time,  and 
is  sure  to  stop  the  minute  the  hour  is 
up.  The  world  is  looking  for  the  per- 
son  who  is  thoughtful,  who  will  say  at 
the  close  of  work  hours:  '  Is  there  not 
something  else  I  can  do  for  you  ?  Can 
I  not  stay  a  little  later,  and  help  you?' 

"  Moreover,  it  is  with  a  race  as  it  is 
with  an  individual :  it  must  respect  it 
self  if  it  would  win  the  respect  of  others. 
There  must  be  a  certain  amount  of  unity 
about  a  race,  there  must  be  a  great 
amount  of  pride  about  a  race,  there 
must  be  a  great  deal  of  faith  on  the 
part  of  a  race  in  itself.  An  individual 
cannot  succeed  unless  he  has  about  him 
a  certain  amount  of  pride, —  enough 
pride  to  make  him  aspire  to  the  highest 
and  best  things  in  life.  An  individual 
cannot  succeed  unless  that  individual 
has  a  great  amount  of  faith  in  himself. 

"  A  person  who  goes  at  an  under 
taking  with  the  feeling  that  he  cannot 

104 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

succeed  is  likely  to  fail.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  individual  who  goes  at  an 
undertaking,  feeling  that  he  can. suc 
ceed,  is  the  individual  who  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten  does  succeed.  But, 
whenever  you  find  an  individual  that  is 
ashamed  of  his  race,  trying  to  get  away 
from  his  race,  apologising  for  being  a 
member  of  his  race,  then  you  find 
a  weak  individual.  Where  you  find 
a  race  that  is  ashamed  of  itself,  that  is 
aoologising  for  itself,  there  you  will  find 
a  weak,  vacillating  race.  Let  us  no 
lunger  have  to  apologise  for  our  race 
in  these  or  other  matters.  Let  us  think 
seriously  and  work  seriously :  then,  as 
a  race,  we  shall  be  thought  of  seriously, 
and,  therefore,  seriously  respected." 


105 


CHAPTER  V. 

IN  this  chapter  I  wish  to  show  how, 
at  Tuskegee,  we  are  trying  to  work  out 
the  plan  of  industrial  training,  and  trust 
I  shall  be  pardoned  the  seeming  egotism 
if  I  preface  the  sketch  with  a  few  words, 
by  way  of  example,  as  to  the  expansion 
of  my  own  life  and  how  I  came  to  under 
take  the  work  at  Tuskegee. 

My  earliest  recollection  is  of  a  small 
one-room  log  hut  on  a  slave  plantation 
in  Virginia.  After  the  close  of  the  war, 
while  working  in  the  coal  mines  of  West 
Virginia  for  the  support  of  my  mother, 
I  heard,  in  some  accidental  way,  of  the 
Hampton  Institute.  When  I  learned 
that  it  was  an  institution  where  a  black 
boy  could  study,  could  have  a  chance 
to  work  for  his  board,  and  at  the  same 
time  be  taught  how  to  work  and  to  real- 
ise  the  dignity  of  labor,  I  resolved  to  go 
there.  Bidding  my  mother  good-by,  I 
started  out  one  morning  to  find  my  way 

1 06 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

to  Hampton,  although  I  was  almost  pen 
niless  and  had  no  definite  idea  as  to 
where  Hampton  was.  By  walking,  beg 
ging  rides,  and  paying  for  a  portion  of 
the  journey  on  the  steam-cars,  I  finally 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  city  of  Rich 
mond,  Virginia.  I  was  without  money 
or  friends.  I  slept  on  a  sidewalk ;  and 
by  working  on  a  vessel  the  next  day  I 
earned  money  enough  to  continue  my 
way  to  the  institute,  where  I  arrived 
with  a  capital  of  fifty  cents.  At  Hamp 
ton  I  found  the  opportunity  —  in  the 
way  of  buildings,  teachers,  and  indus 
tries  provided  by  the  generous  —  to  get 
training  in  the  class-room  and  by  practi 
cal  touch  with  industrial  life, —  to  learn 
thrift,  economy,  and  push.  I  was  sur 
rounded  by  an  atmosphere  of  business, 
Christian  influence,  and  spirit  of  self- 
help,  that  seemed  to  have  awakened 
every  faculty  in  me,  and  caused  me  for 
the  first  time  to  realise  what  it  meant  to 
be  a  man  instead  of  a  piece  of  property. 

107 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

While  there,  I  resolved,  when  I  had 
finished  the  course  of  training,  I  would 
go  into  the  Far  South,  into  the  Black 
Belt  of  the  South,  and  give  my  life  to 
providing  the  same  kind  of  opportunity 
for  self-reliance,  self-awakening,  that  I 
had  found  provided  for  me  at  Hampton. 

My  work  began  at  Tuskegee,  Ala- 
bama,  in  1881,  in  a  small  shanty  church, 
with  one  teacher  and  thirty  students, 
without  a  dollar's  worth  of  property. 
The  spirit  of  work  and  of  industrial 
thrift,  with  aid  from  the  State  and  gen 
erosity  from  the  North,  have  enabled 
us  to  develop  an  institution  which  now 
has  about  one  thousand  students,  gath 
ered  from  twenty-three  States,  and 
eighty-eight  instructors.  Counting  stu 
dents,  instructors,  and  their  families, 
we  have  a  resident  population  upon  the 
school  grounds  of  about  twelve  hundred 
persons. 

The  institution  owns  two  thousand 
three  hundred  acres  of  land,  seven  hun- 

108 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

dred  of  which  are  cultivated  by  student 
labor.  There  are  six  hundred  head  of 
live-stock,  including  horses,  mules,  cows, 
hogs,  and  sheep.  There  are  over  forty 
vehicles  that  have  been  made,  and  are 
now  used,  by  the  school.  Training  is 
given  in  twenty-six  industries.  There 
is  work  in  wood,  in  iron,  in  leather,  in 
tin;  and  all  forms  of  domestic  economy 
are  engaged  in.  Students  are  taught 
mechanical  and  architectural  drawing, 
receive  training  as  agriculturists,  dairy 
men,  masons,  carpenters,  contractors, 
builders,  as  machinists,  electricians,  prin 
ters,  dressmakers,  and  milliners,  and  in 
other  directions. 

The  value  of  the  property  is  $306,000. 
There  are  forty-two  buildings,  counting 
large  and  small,  all  of  which,  with  the 
exception  of  four,  have  been  erected  by 
the  labour  of  the  students. 

Since  this  work  started,  there  has  been 
collected  and  spent  for  its  founding  and 
support  $800,000.  The  annual  expense 

109 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

is  now  not  far  from  $75,000.  In  a  hum- 
ble,  simple  manner  the  effort  has  been  to 
place  a  great  object-lesson  in  the  heart 
of  the  South  for  the  elevation  of  the 
coloured  people,  where  there  should  be, 
in  a  high  sense,  that  union  of  head, 
heart,  and  hand  which  has  been  the 
foundation  of  the  greatness  of  all  races 
since  the  world  began. 

What  is  the  object  of  all  this  outlay? 
It  must  be  first  borne  in  mind  that 
we  have  in  the  South  a  peculiar  and 
unprecedented  state  of  things.  The 
cardinal  needs  among  the  eight  million 
coloured  people  in  the  South,  most  of 
whom  are  to  be  found  on  the  planta 
tions,  may  be  stated  as  food,  clothing, 
shelter,  education,  proper  habits,  and 
a  settlement  of  race  relations.  These 
millions  of  coloured  people  of  the 
South  cannot  be  reached  directly  by 
any  missionary  agent ;  but  they  can  be 
reached  by  sending  out  among  them 
strong,  selected  young  men  and  women, 

110 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

with  the  proper  training  of  head,  hand, 
and  heart,  who  will  live  among  them 
and  show  them  how  to  lift  themselves  up. 
The  problem  that  the  Tuskegee  In 
stitute  keeps  before  itself  constantly  is 
how  to  prepare  these  leaders.  From 
the  outset,  in  connection  with  religious 
and  academic  training,  it  has  empha 
sised  industrial,  or  hand,  training  as  a 
means  of  finding  the  way  out  of  present 
conditions.  First,  we  have  found  the 
industrial  teaching  useful  in  giving  the 
student  a  chance  to  work  out  a  portion 
of  his  expenses  while  in  school.  Second, 
the  school  furnishes  labour  that  has  an 
economic  value  and  at  the  same  time 
gives  the  student  a  chance  to  acquire 
knowledge  and  skill  while  performing 
the  labour.  Most  of  all,  we  find  the 
industrial  system  valuable  in  teaching 
economy,  thrift,  and  the  dignity  of  labour 
and  in  giving  moral  backbone  to  stu 
dents.  The  fact  that  a  student  goes 
into  the  world  conscious  of  his  power 

1 1 1 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

to  build  a  house  or  a  wagon  or  to  make 
a  set  of  harness  gives  him  a  certain 
confidence  and  moral  independence 
that  he  would  not  possess  without  such 
training. 

A  more  detailed  example  of  our 
methods  at  Tuskegee  may  be  of  in- 
terest.  For  example,  we  cultivate  by 
student  labour  seven  hundred  acres  of 
land.  The  object  is  not  only  to  culti 
vate  the  land  in  a  way  to  make  it  pay 
our  boarding  department,  but  at  the 
same  time  to  teach  the  students,  in 
addition  to  the  practical  work,  some 
thing  of  the  chemistry  of  the  soil,  the 
best  methods  of  drainage,  dairying,  cul 
tivation  of  fruit,  the  care  of  live-stock 
and  tools,  and  scores  of  other  lessons 
needed  by  people  whose  main  depend 
ence  is  on  agriculture. 

Friends  some  time  ago  provided 
means  for  the  erection  of  a  large  new 
chapel  at  Tuskegee.  Our  students 
made  the  bricks  for  this  chapel.  A 

112 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

large  part  of  the  timber  was  sawed  by 
the  students  at  our  saw-mill,  the  plans 
were  drawn  by  our  teacher  of  architect 
ural  and  mechanical  drawing,  and  stu 
dents  did  the  brick-masonry,  the  plas 
tering,  the  painting,  the  carpentry  work, 
the  tinning,  the  slating,  and  made  most 
of  the  furniture.  Practically,  the  whole 
chapel  was  built  and  furnished  by  stu 
dent  labour.  Now  the  school  has  this 
building  for  permanent  use,  and  the 
students  have  a  knowledge  of  the  trades 
employed  in  its  construction. 

While  the  young  men  do  the  kinds  of 
work  I  have  mentioned,  young  women 
to  a  large  extent  make,  mend,  and  laun 
dry  the  clothing  of  the  young  men. 
They  also  receive  instruction  in  dairy 
ing,  horticulture,  and  other  valuable  in 
dustries. 

One  of  the  objections  sometimes 
urged  against  industrial  education  for 
the  Negro  is  that  it  aims  merely  to 
teach  him  to  work  on  the  same  plan 

"3 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

that  he  worked  on  when  in  slavery. 
This  is  far  from  being  the  object  at 
Tuskegee.  At  the  head  of  each  of  the 
twenty-six  industrial  divisions  we  have 
an  intelligent  and  competent  instructor, 
just  as  we  have  in  our  history  classes, 
so  that  the  student  is  taught  not  only 
practical  brick-masonry,  for  example, 
but  also  the  underlying  principles  of 
that  industry,  the  mathematics  and  the 
mechanical  and  architectural  drawing. 
Or  he  is  taught  how  to  become  master 
of  the  forces  of  nature,  so  that,  instead 
of  cultivating  corn  in  the  old  way,  he 
can  use  a  corn  cultivator  that  lays  off 
the  furrows,  drops  the  corn  into  them, 
and  covers  it ;  and  in  this  way  he  can  do 
more  work  than  three  men  by  the  old 
process  of  corn  planting,  while  at  the 
same  time  much  of  the  toil  is  eliminated 
and  labour  is  dignified.  In  a  word,  the 
constant  aim  is  to  show  the  student 
how  to  put  brains  into  every  process  of 
labour,  how  to  bring  his  knowledge  of 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

mathematics  and  the  sciences  in  farm 
ing,  carpentry,  forging,  foundry  work, 
how  to  dispense  as  soon  as  possible 
with  the  old  form  of  ante-bellum  labour. 
In  the  erection  of  the  chapel  referred 
to,  instead  of  letting  the  money  which 
was  given  to  us  go  into  outside  hands, 
we  made  it  accomplish  three  objects: 
first,  it  provided  the  chapel ;  second,  it 
gave  the  students  a  chance  to  get  a 
practical  knowledge  of  the  trades  con 
nected  with  the  building;  and,  third, 
it  enabled  them  to  earn  something 
toward  the  payment  of  their  board 
while  receiving  academic  and  indus 
trial  training. 

Having  been  fortified  at  Tuskegee  by 
education  of  mind,  skill  of  hand,  Chris 
tian  character,  ideas  of  thrift,  economy, 
and  push,  and  a  spirit  of  independence, 
the  student  is  sent  out  to  become  a  cen 
tre  of  influence  and  light  in  showing 
the  masses  of  our  people  in  the  Black 
Belt  of  the  South  how  to  lift  themselves 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

up.  Can  this  be  done?  I  give  but 
one  or  two  examples.  Ten  years  ago 
a  young  coloured  man  came  to  the  insti 
tute  from  one  of  the  large  plantation 
districts.  He  studied  in  the  class-room 
a  portion  of  the  time,  and  received  prac 
tical  and  theoretical  training  on  the 
farm  the  remainder  of  the  time.  Hav 
ing  finished  his  course  at  Tuskegee,  he 
returned  to  his  plantation  home,  which 
was  in  a  county  where  the  coloured 
people  outnumbered  the  whites  six  to 
one,  as  is  true  of  many  of  the  counties 
in  the  Black  Belt  of  the  South.  He 
found  the  Negroes  in  debt.  Ever  since 
the  war  they  had  been  mortgaging  their 
crops  for  the  food  on  which  to  live  while 
the  crops  were  growing.  The  majority 
of  them  were  living  from  hand-to-mouth 
on  rented  land,  in  small  one-room  log 
cabins,  and  attempting  to  pay  a  rate  of 
interest  on  their  advances  that  ranged 
from  fifteen  to  forty  per  cent,  per  an 
num.  The  school  had  been  taught  in 

116 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

a  wreck  of  a  log  cabin,  with  no  appa 
ratus,  and  had  never  been  in  session 
longer  than  three  months  out  of  twelve. 
He  found  the  people,  as  many  as  eight 
or  ten  persons,  of  all  ages  and  condi 
tions  and  of  both  sexes,  huddled  to 
gether  and  living  in  one-room  cabins 
year  after  year,  and  with  a  minister 
whose  only  aim  was  to  work  upon  the 
emotions.  One  can  imagine  something 
of  the  moral  and  religious  state  of  the 
community. 

But  the  remedy !  In  spite  of  the  evil 
the  Negro  got  the  habit  of  work  from 
slavery.  The  rank  and  file  of  the  race, 
especially  those  on  the  Southern  planta 
tions,  work  hard ;  but  the  trouble  is  that 
what  they  earn  gets  away  from  them  in 
high  rents,  crop  mortgages,  whiskey, 
snuff,  cheap  jewelry,  and  the  like.  The 
young  man  just  referred  to  had  been 
trained  at  Tuskegee,  as  most  of  our 
graduates  are,  to  meet  just  this  condi 
tion  of  things.  He  took  the  three 

"7 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

months'  public  school  as  a  nucleus  for 
his  work.  Then  he  organized  the  older 
people  into  a  club,  or  conference,  that 
held  meetings  every  week.  In  these 
meetings  he  taught  the  people,  in  a 
plain,  simple  manner,  how  to  save  their 
money,  how  to  farm  in  a  better  way, 
how  to  sacrifice, —  to  live  on  bread  and 
potatoes,  if  necessary,  till  they  could  get 
out  of  debt,  and  begin  the  buying  of 
lands. 

Soon  a  large  proportion  of  the  people 
were  in  a  condition  to  make  contracts 
for  the  buying  of  homes  (land  is  very 
cheap  in  the  South)  and  to  live  without 
mortgaging  their  crops.  Not  only  this; 
under  the  guidance  and  leadership  of 
this  teacher,  the  first  year  that  he  was 
among  them  they  learned  how  and 
built,  by  contributions  in  money  and 
labour,  a  neat,  comfortable  school-house 
that  replaced  the  wreck  of  a  log  cabin 
formerly  used.  The  following  year  the 
weekly  meetings  were  continued,  and 

nS 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

two  months  were  added  to  the  original 
three  months  of  school.  The  next  year 
two  more  months  were  added.  The 
improvement  has  gone  on  until  these 
people  have  every  year  an  eight  months' 
school. 

I  wish  my  readers  could  have  the 
chance  that  I  have  had  of  going  into 
this  community.  I  wish  they  could 
look  into  the  faces  of  the  people,  and 
sec  them  beaming  with  hope  and  de 
light.  I  wish  they  could  see  the  two  or 
three  room  cottages  that  have  taken  the 
place  of  the  usual  one-room  cabin,  see 
the  well-cultivated  farms  and  the  relig 
ious  life  of  the  people  that  now  means 
something  more  than  the  name.  The 
teacher  has  a  good  cottage  and  well- 
kept  farm  that  serve  as  models.  In  a 
word,  a  complete  revolution  has  been 
wrought  in  the  industrial,  educational, 
and  religious  life  of  this  whole  com 
munity  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  they 
have  had  this  leader,  this  guide  and 

119 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

object-lesson,  to  show  them  how  to  take 
the  money  and  effort  that  had  hitherto 
been  scattered  to  the  wind  in  mortgages 
and  high  rents,  in  whiskey  and  gewgaws, 
and  how  to  concentrate  it  in  the  direc 
tion  of  their  own  uplifting.  One  com- 
munity  on  its  feet  presents  an  object- 
lesson  for  the  adjoining  communities, 
and  soon  improvements  show  them 
selves  in  other  places. 

Another  student,  who  received  aca 
demic  and  industrial  training  at  Tus- 
kegee,  established  himself,  three  years 
ago,  as  a  blacksmith  and  wheelwright 
in  a  community ;  and,  in  addition  to  the 
influence  of  his  successful  business 
enterprise,  he  is  fast  making  the  same 
kind  of  changes  in  the  life  of  the  people 
about  him  that  I  have  just  recounted. 
It  would  be  easy  for  me  to  fill  many 
pages  describing  the  influence  of  the 
Tuskegee  graduates  in  every  part  of 
the  South.  We  keep  it  constantly  in 
the  minds  of  our  students  and  graduates 

120 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

that  the  industrial  or  material  condition 
of  the  masses  of  our  people  must  be 
improved,  as  well  as  the  intellectual, 
before  there  can  be  any  permanent 
change  in  their  moral  and  religious  life. 
We  find  it  a' pretty  hard  thing  to  make 
a  good  Christian  of  a  hungry  man.  No 
matter  how  much  our  people  "get 
happy  "  and  "  shout  "  in  church,  if  they 
go  home  at  night  from  church  hungry, 
they  are  tempted  to  find  something  to 
eat  before  morning.  This  is  a  principle 
of  human  nature,  and  is  not  confined 
alone  to  the  Negro.  The  Negro  has 
within  him  immense  power  for  self-up 
lifting,  but  for  years  it  will  be  necessary 
to  guide  him  and  stimulate  his  energies. 
The  recognition  of  this  power  led  us 
to  organise,  five  years  ago,  what  is  known 
as  the  Tuskegee  Negro  Conference, — 
a  gathering  that  meets  every  February, 
l'  and  is  composed  of  about  eight  hun- 
1  dred  representatives,  coloured  men  and 
women,  from  all  sections  of  the  Black 


121 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Belt.  They  come  in  ox-carts,  mule- 
carts,  buggies,  on  muleback  and  horse 
back,  on  foot,  by  railroad.  Some  travel 
all  night  in  order  to  be  present.  The 
matters  considered  at  the  conference  are 
those  that  the  coloured  people  have  it 
in  their  own  power  to  control, —  such  as 
the  evils  of  the  mortgage  system,  the 
one-room  cabin,  buying  on  credit,  the 
importance  of  owning  a  home  and  of 
putting  money  in  the  bank,  how  to 
build  school-houses  and  prolong  the 
school  term,  and  to  improve  their  moral 
and  religious  condition.  As  a  single 
example  of  the  results,  one  delegate  re 
ported  that  since  the  conference  was 
started,  seven  years  ago,  eleven  peo 
ple  in  his  neighbourhood  had  bought 
homes,  fourteen  had  gotten  out  of  debt, 
and  a  number  had  stopped  mortgaging 
their  crops.  Moreover,  a  school-house 
had  been  built  by  the  people  themselves, 
and  the  school  term  had  been  extended 
from  three  to  six  months ;  and,  with  a 

122 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

look  of  triumph,  he  exclaimed,  "  We's 
done  libin'  in  de  ashes." 

Besides  this  Negro  Conference  for  the 
masses  of  the  people,  we  now  have  a 
gathering  at  the  same  time  known  as 
the  Tuskegee  Workers'  Conference, 
composed  of  the  officers  and  instructors 
of  the  leading  coloured  schools  in  the 
South.  After  listening  to  the  story  of 
the  conditions  and  needs  from  the 
people  themselves,  the  Workers'  Con 
ference  finds  much  food  for  thought  and 
discussion.  Let  me  repeat,  from  its 
beginning,  this  institution  has  kept  in 
mind  the  giving  of  thorough  mental  and 
religious  training,  along  with  such  in 
dustrial  training  as  would  enable  the 
student  to  appreciate  the  dignity  of 
labour  and  become  self-supporting  and 
valuable  as  a  producing  factor,  keeping 
in  mind  the  occupations  open  in  the 
South  to  the  average  man  of  the  race. 

This  institution  has  now  reached  the 
point  where  it  can  begin  to  judge  of  the 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

value  of  its  work  as  seen  in  its  grad 
uates.  Some  years  ago  we  noted  the 
fact,  for  example,  that  there*  was  quite  a 
movement  in  many  parts  of  the  South  to 
organise  and  start  dairies.  Soon  after 
this,  we  opened  a  dairy  school  where 
a  number  of  young  men  could  receive 
training  in  the  best  and  most  scientific 
methods  of  dairying.  At  present  we 
have  calls,  mainly  from  Southern  white 
men,  for  twice  as  many  dairymen  as  we 
are  able  to  supply.  The  reports  indi 
cate  that  our  young  men  are  giving  the 
highest  satisfaction,  and  are  fast  chang 
ing  and  improving  the  dairy  product  in 
the  communities  where  they  labour.  I 
have  used  the  dairy  industry  simply  as 
an  example.  What  I  have  said  of  this 
industry  is  true  in  a  larger  or  less  de 
gree  of  the  others. 

I  cannot  but  believe,  and  my  daily 
observation  and  experience  confirm  me 
in  it,  that,  as  we  continue  placing  men 
and  women  of  intelligence,  'religion, 

124 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

modesty,  conscience,  and  skill  in  every 
community  in  the  South,  who  will  prove 
by  actual  results  their  value  to  the  com 
munity,  this  will  constitute  the  solution 
for  many  of  the  present  political  and 
sociological  difficulties.  It  is  with  this 
larger  and  more  comprehensive  view  of 
improving  present  conditions  and  laying 
the  foundation  wisely  that  the  Tuskegee 
Normal  and  Industrial  Institute  is  train 
ing  men  and  women  as  teachers  and 
industrial  leaders. 

Over  four  hundred  students  have  fin 
ished  the  course  of  training  at  this  in 
stitution,  and  are  now  scattered  through 
out  the  South,  doing  good  work.  A 
recent  investigation  shows  that  about 
3,000  students  who  have  taken  only  a 
partial  course  are  doing  commendable 
work.  One  young  man,  who  was  able 
to  remain  in  school  but  two  years,  has 
been  teaching  in  one  community  for  ten 
years.  During  this  time  he  has  built 
a  new  school-house,  extended  the  school 

I2S 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

term  from  three  to  seven  months,  and 
has  bought  a  nice  farm  upon  which  he 
has  erected  a  neat  cottage.  The  exam- 
pie  of  this  young  man  has  inspired 
many  of  the  coloured  people  in  this 
community  to  follow  his  example  in 
some  degree ;  and  this  is  one  of  many 
such  examples.  • 

Wherever  our  graduates  and  ex-stu 
dents  go,  they  teach  by  precept  and 
example  the  necessary  lesson  of  thrift, 
economy,  and  property-getting,  and 
friendship  between  the  races. 


126 


CHAPTER  VI. 


IT  has  become  apparent  that  the  ef 
fort  to  put  the  rank  and  file  of  the  col 
oured  people  into  a  position  to  exercise 
the  right  of  franchise  has  not  been  the 
success  that  was  expected  in  those  por 
tions  of  our  country  where  the  Negro  is 
found  in  large  numbers.  Either  the 
Negro  was  not  prepared  for  any  such 
wholesale  exercise  of  the  ballot  as  our 
recent  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
contemplated  or  the  American  people 
were  not  prepared  to  assist  and  encour 
age  him  to  use  the  ballot.  In  either  case 
the  result  has  been  the  same. 

On  an  important  occasion  in  the  life 
of  the  Master,  when  it  fell  to  him  to  pro 
nounce  judgment  on  two  courses  of  ac 
tion,  these  memorable  words  fell  from 
his  lips:  "And  Mary  hath  chosen  the 
better  part."  This  was  the  supreme 
test  in  the  case  of  an  individual.  It  is 
the  highest  test  in  the  case  of  a  race  or 

127 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

a  nation.  Let  us  apply  this  test  to  the 
American  Negro. 

In  the  life  of  our  Republic,  when  he 
has  had  the  opportunity  to  choose, 
has  it  been  the  better  or  worse  part? 
When  in  the  childhood  of  this  na 
tion  the  Negro  was  asked  to  submit 
to  slavery  or  choose  death  and  extinc 
tion,  as  did  the  aborigines,  he  chose 
the  better  part,  that  which  perpetuated 
the  race. 

When,  in  1776,  the  Negro  was  asked 
to  decide  between  British  oppression  and 
American  independence,  we  find  him 
choosing  the  better  part;  and  Crispus 
Attucks,  a  Negro,  was  the  first  to  shed 
his  blood  on  State  Street,  Boston,  that 
the  white  American  might  enjoy  liberty 
forever,  though  his  race  remained  in 
slavery.  When,  in  1814,  at  New  Or 
leans,  the  test  of  patriotism  came  again, 
we  find  the  Negro  choosing  the  better 
part,  General  Andrew  Jackson  himself 
testifying  that  no  heart  was  more  loyal 

128 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

and  no  arm  was  more  strong  and  useful 
in  defence  of  righteousness. 

When  the  long  and  memorable  strug 
gle  came  between  union  and  separation, 
when  he  knew  that  victory  meant  free 
dom,  and  defeat  his  continued  enslave 
ment,  although  enlisting  by  the  thou 
sands,  as  opportunity  presented  itself,  to 
fight  in  honourable  combat  for  the  cause 
of  the  Union  and  liberty,  yet,  when  the 
suggestion  and  the  temptation  came  to 
burn  the  home  and  massacre  wife  and 
children  during  the  absence  of  the  master 
in  battle,  and  thus  insure  his  liberty, 
we  find  him  choosing  the  better  part, 
and  for  four  long  years  protecting  and 
supporting  the  helpless,  defenceless  ones 
intrusted  to  his  care. 

When,  during  our  war  with  Spain, 
the  safety  and  honour  of  the  Republic 
were  threatened  by  a  foreign  foe,  when 
the  wail  and  anguish  of  the  oppressed 
from  a  distant  isle  reached  our  ears, 
we  find  the  Negro  forgetting  his  own 

1.29 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

wrongs,  forgetting  the  laws  and  customs 
that  discriminate  against  him  in  his  own 
country,  and  again  choosing  the  better 
part  And,  if  any  one  would  know  how 
he  acquitted  himself  in  the  field  at  San- 
tiago,  let  him  apply  for  answer  to 
Shafter  and  Roosevelt  and  Wheeler. 
Let  them  tell  how  the  Negro  faced  death 
and  laid  down  his  life  in  defence  of 
honour  and  humanity.  When  the  full 
story  of  the  heroic  conduct  of  the  Negro 
in  the  Spanish-American  War  has  been 
heard  from  the  lips  of  Northern  soldier 
and  Southern  soldier,  from  ex-abolition 
ist  and  ex-master,  then  shall  the  country 
decide  whether  a  race  that  is  thus  will 
ing  to  die  for  its  country  should  not  be 
given  the  highest  opportunity  to  live  for 
its  country. 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  complaints  of 
suffering  in  the  camp  and  field  during 
the  Spanish-American  War,  suffering 
from  fever  and  hunger,  where  is  the 
official  or  citizen  that  has  heard  a  word 

130 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

of  complaint  from  the  lips  of  a  black 
soldier?  The  only  request  that  came 
from  the  Negro  soldier  was  that  he 
might  be  permitted  to  replace  the 
white  soldier  when  heat  and  malaria 
began  to  decimate  the  ranks  of  the 
white  regiments,  and  to  occupy  at  the 
same  time  the  post  of  greater  danger. 
~  But,  when  all  this  is  said,  it  re 
mains  true  that  the  efforts  on  the 
part  of  his  friends  and  the  part  of 
himself  to  share  actively  in  the  con 
trol  of  State  and  local  government  in 
America  have  not  been  a  success  in 
all  sections.  What  are  the  causes  of 
this  partial  failure,  and  what  lessons 
has  it  taught  that  we  may  use  in  regard 
to  the  future  treatment  of  the  Negro 
in  America? 

In  my  mind  there  is  no  doubt  but 
that  we  made  a  mistake  at  the  begin 
ning  of  our  freedom  of  putting  the  em 
phasis  on  the  wrong  end.  Politics  and 
the  holding  of  office  were  too  largely 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

emphasised,  almost  to  the  exclusion  of 
every  other  interest 

I  believe  the  past  and  present  teach 
but  one  lesson, —  to  the  Negro's  friends 
and  to  the  Negro  himself, —  that  there 
is  but  one  way  out,  that  there  is  but 
one  hope  of  solution;  and  that  is  for 
the  Negro  in  every  part  of  America 
to  resolve  from  henceforth  that  he  will 
throw  aside  every  non-essential  and 
cling  only  to  essential, —  that  his  pillar 
of  fire  by  night  and  pillar  of  cloud  by 
day  shall  be  property,  economy,  educa 
tion,  and  Christian  character.  To  us 
just  now  these  are  the  wheat,  all  else 
the  chaff.  The  individual  or  race  that 
owns  the  property,  pays  the  taxes,  pos 
sesses  the  intelligence  and  substantial 
character,  is  the  one  which  is  going  to 
exercise  the  greatest  control  in  govern 
ment,  whether  he  lives  in  the  North  or 
whether  he  lives  in  the  South. 

I  have  often  been  asked  the  cause  of 
and  the  cure  for  the  riots  that  have 

'3* 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

taken  place  recently  in  North  Carolina 
and  South  Carolina.*  I  am  not  at  all 
sure  that  what  I  shall  say  will  answer 
these  questions  in  a  satisfactory  way, 
nor  shall  I  attempt  to  narrow  my  ex 
pressions  to  a  mere  recital  of  what  has 
taken  place  in  these  two  States.  I  pre 
fer  to  discuss  the  problem  in  a  broader 
manner. 

In  the  first  place,  in  politics  I  am  a 
Republican,  but  have  always  refrained 
from  activity  in  party  politics,  and  ex 
pect  to  pursue  this  policy  in  the  future. 
So  in  this  connection  I  shall  refrain, 
as  I  always  have  done,  from  entering 
upon  any  discussion  of  mere  party  poli 
tics.  What  I  shall  say  of  politics  will 
bear  upon  the  race  problem  and  the 
civilisation  of  the  South  in  the  larger 
sense.  In  no  case  would  I  permit  my 
political  relations  to  stand  in  the  way 
of  my  speaking  and  acting  in  the  man 
ner  that  I  believe  would  be  for  the  per- 

November,  1898. 
133 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

manent  interest  of  my  race  and  the 
whole  South. 

In  1873  the  Negro  in  the  South  had 
reached  the  point  of  greatest  activity 
and  influence  in  public  life,  so  far  as 
the  mere  holding  of  elective  office  was 
concerned.  From  that  date  those  who 
have  kept  up  with  the  history  of  the 
South  have  noticed  that  the  Negro  has 
steadily  lost  in  the  number  of  elective 
offices  held.  In  saying  this,  I  do  not 
mean  that  the  Negro  has  gone  back 
ward  in  the  real  and  more  fundamental 
things  of  life.  On  the  contrary,  he  has 
gone  forward  faster  than  has  been  true 
of  any  other  race  in  history,  under  any- 
thing  like  similar  circumstances. 

If  we  can  answer  the  question  as  to 
why  the  Negro  has  lost  ground  in  the 
matter  of  holding  elective  office  in  the 
South,  perhaps  we  shall  find  that  our 
reply  will  prove  to  be  our  answer  also 
as  to  the  cause  of  the  recent  riots  in 
North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina. 

134 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

Before  beginning  a  discussion  of  the 
question  I  have  asked,  I  wish  to  say 
that  this  change  in  the  political  influ 
ence  of  the  Negro  has  continued  from 
year  to  year,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  for  a  long  time  he  was  protected, 
politically,  by  force  of  federal  arms  and 
the  most  rigid  federal  laws,  and  still 
more  effectively,  perhaps,  by  the  voice 
and  influence  in  the  halls  of  legisla 
tion  of  such  advocates  of  the  rights  of 
the  Negro  race  as  Thaddeus  Stevens, 
Charles  Sumner,  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
James  M.  Ashley,  Oliver  P.  Morton, 
Carl  Schurz,  and  Roscoe  Conkling,  and 
on  the  stump  and  through  the  public 
press  by  those  great  and  powerful  Ne 
groes,  Frederick  Douglass,  John  M. 
Langston,  Blanche  K.  Bruce,  John  R. 
;  Lynch,  P.  B.  S.  Pinchback,  Robert 
Browne  Elliot,  T.  Thomas  Fortune,  and 
many  others ;  but  the  Negro  has  con 
tinued  for  twenty  years  to  have  fewer 
representatives  in  the  State  and  na- 

'35 


i 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

tional  legislatures.  The  reduction  has 
continued  until  now  it  is  at  the  point 
where,  with  few  exceptions,  he  is  with 
out  representatives  in  the  law-making 
bodies  of  the  State  and  of  the  nation. 

Now  let  us  find,  if  we  can,  a  cause 
for  this.  The  Negro  is  fond  of  saying 
that  his  present  condition  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  State  and  federal  courts 
have  not  sustained  the  laws  passed  for 
the  protection  of  the  rights  of  his  peo 
ple;  but  I  think  we  shall  have  to  go 
deeper  than  this,  because  I  believe  that 
all  agree  that  court  decisions,  as  a  rule, 
represent  the  public  opinion  of  the  com- 
munity  or  nation  creating  and  sustain- 
ing  the  court. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  freedom  it 
was  unfortunate  that  those  of  the  white 
race  who  won  the  political  confidence 
of  the  Negro  were  not,  with  few  excep 
tions,  men  of  such  high  character  as 
would  lead  them  to  assist  him  in  lay 
ing  a  firm  foundation  for  his  develop- 

136 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

ment.  Their  main  purpose  appears  to 
have  been,  for  selfish  ends  in  too  many 
instances,  merely  to  control  his  vote. 
The  history  of  the  reconstruction  era 
will  show  that  this  was  unfortunate  for 
all  the  parties  in  interest. 

It  would  have  been  better,  from  any 
point  of  view,  if  the  native  Southern 
white  man  had  taken  the  Negro,  at  the 
beginning  of  his  freedom,  into  his  po 
litical  confidence,  and  exercised  an  in 
fluence  and  control  over  him  before  his 
political  affections  were  alienated. 

The   average    Southern    white   man 

has  an  idea  to-day  that,  if  the   Negro 

were    permitted   to    get    any    political 

|  power,  all   the  mistakes  of  the  recon- 

!  struction    period    would    be    repeated. 

1  He    forgets   or   ignores    the   fact   that 

j  thirty  years  of  acquiring  education  and 

i  property  and   character  have  produced 

]  a  higher,  type   of  black  man  than  ex- 

i  isted  thirty  years  ago. 

But,  to  be  more  specific,  for  all  prac- 
'37 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

tical  purposes,  there  are  two  political 
parties  in  the  South, —  a  black  man's 
party  and  a  white  man's  party.  In  say 
ing  this,  I  do  not  mean  that  all  white 
men  are  Democrats ;  for  there  are  some 
white  men  in  the  South  of  the  high 
est  character  who  are  Republicans,  and 
there  are  a  few  Negroes  in  the  South 
of  the  highest  character  who  are  Demo- 
crats.  It  is  the  general  understanding 
that  all  white  men  are  Democrats  or 
the  equivalent,  and  that  all  black  men 
are  Republicans,  So  long  as  the  colour 
line  is  the  dividing  line  in  politics,  so 
long  will  there  be  trouble. 

The  white  man  feels  that  he  owns 
most  of  the  property,  furnishes  the 
Negro  most  of  his  employment,  thinks 
he  pays  most  of  the  taxes,  and  has 
had  years  of  experience  in  government. 
There  is  no  mistaking  the  fact  that  the 
feeling  which  has  heretofore  governed 
the  Negro — that,  to  be  manly  and  stand 
by  his  race,  he  must  oppose  the  South- 

138 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

em  white  man  with  his  vote  —  has  had 
much  to  do  with  intensifying  the  oppo 
sition  of  the  Southern  white  man  to 
him. 

The  Southern  white  man  says  that  it 
is  unreasonable  for  the  Negro  to  come 
to  him,   in    a   large   measure,   for    his 
clothes,   board,  shelter,  and  education, 
and  for  his  politics  to  go  to  men  a  thou 
sand   miles   away.      He   very   properly 
argues  that,  when  the  Negro  votes,  he 
should  try  to  consult  the    interests   of 
his  employer,  just  as  the  Pennsylvania 
employee  tries  to  vote  for  the  interests 
of  his  employer.     Further,  that   much 
of  the  education  which    has   been  given 
the  Negro  has   been    defective,  in   not 
preparing  him    to   love   labour   and  to 
1  earn  his   living  at  some  special  indus- 
j  try,  and    has,    in    too    many   cases,    re- 
!  suited  in  tempting  him  to   live  by  his 
j  wits  as  a  political  creature  or  by  trust- 
|  ing  to  his   "influence"  as   a  political 
]  lime-server. 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Then,  there  is  no  mistaking  the  fact, 
that  much  opposition  to  the  Negro  in 
politics  is  due  to  the  circumstance  that 
the  Southern  white  man  has  not  become 
accustomed  to  seeing  the  Negro  exer- 
cise  political  power  either  as  a  voter  or 
as  an  office-holder.  Again,  we  want  to 
bear  it  in  mind  that  the  South  has  not 
yet  reached  the  point  where  there  is 
that  strict  regard  for  the  enforcement 
of  the  law  against  either  black  or  white 
men  that  there  is  in  many  of  our  North- 
ern  and  Western  States.  This  laxity 
in  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  in  general, 
and  especially  of  criminal  laws,  makes 
such  outbreaks  as  those  in  North  Caro 
lina  and  South  Carolina  of  easy  occur- 
re  nee. 

Then  there  is  one  other  consideration 
which  must  not  be  overlooked.  It  is 
the  common  opinion  of  almost  every 
black  man  and  almost  every  white  man 
that  nearly  everybody  who  has  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  making  of 

140 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

laws  bearing  upon  the  protection  of 
the  Negro's  vote  has  proceeded  on  the 
theory  that  all  the  black  men  for  all 
time  will  vote  the  Republican  ticket 
and  that  all  the  white  men  in  the  South 
will  vote  the  Democratic  ticket.  In  a 
word,  all  seem  to  have  taken  it  for 
granted  that  the  two  races  are  always 
going  to  oppose  each  other  in  their 
voting. 

In  all  the  foregoing  statements  I  have 
not  attempted  to  define  my  own  views 
or  position,  but  simply  to  describe  con 
ditions  as  I  have  observed  them,  that 
might  throw  light  upon  the  cause  of 
our  political  troubles.  As  to  my  own 
position,  I  do  not  favour  the  Negro's 
giving  up  anything  which  is  funda 
mental  and  which  has  been  guaranteed 
to  him  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  not  best  for  him  to  relin 
quish  any  of  his  rights;  nor  would  his 
doing  so  be  best  for  the  Southern  white 
man.  Every  law  placed  in  the  Consti- 

141 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

tution  of  the  JJnited  States  was  placed 
there  to  encourage  and  stimulate  the 
highest  citizenship.  If  the  Negro  is  not 
stimulated  and  encouraged  by  just  State 
and  national  laws  to  become  the  highest 
type  of  citizen,  the  result  will  be  worse 
for  the  Southern  white  man  than  for  the 
Negro.  Take  the  State  of  South  Caro 
lina,  for  example,  where  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  the  population  are  Negroes. 
Unless  these  Negroes  are  encouraged 
by  just  election  laws  to  become  tax 
payers  and  intelligent  producers,  the 
white  people  of  South  Carolina  will 
have  an  eternal  millstone  about  their 
necks. 

In  an  open  letter  to  the  State  Con 
stitutional  Convention  of  Louisiana,  I 
wrote :  "  I  am  no  politician.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  have  always  advised  my 
race  to  give  attention  to  acquiring  prop 
erty,  intelligence,  and  character,  as  the 
necessary  bases  of  good  citizenship, 
rather  than  to  mere  political  agitation. 

142 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

But  the  question  upon  which  I  write  is 
out  of  the  region  of  ordinary  politics. 
It  affects  the  civilisation  of  two  races, 
not  for  to-day  alone,  but  for  a  very  long 
time  to  come. 

11  Since  the  war,  no  State  has  had  such 
an  opportunity  to  settle,  for  all  time,  the 
race  question,  so  far  as  it  concerns  poli 
tics,  as  is  now  given  to  Louisiana.  Will 
your  convention  set  an  example  to  the 
world  in  this  respect  ?  Will  Louisiana 
take  such  high  and  just  grounds  in  re 
spect  to  the  Negro  that  no  one  can 
doubt  that  the  South  is  as  good  a  friend 
to  him  as  he  possesses  elsewhere?  In 
all  this,  gentlemen  of  the  convention, 
I  am  not  pleading  for  the  Negro  alone, 
but  for  the  morals,  the  higher  life,  of  the 
white  man  as  well. 

u  The  Negro  agrees  with  you  that  it 
is  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  the  South 
that  restrictions  be  put  upon  the  ballot. 
I  know  that  you  have  two  serious  prob 
lems  before  you ;  ignorant  and  corrupt 

'43 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

government,  on  the  one  hand ;  and,  on 
the  other,  a  way  to  restrict  the  ballot 
so  that  control  will  be  in  the  hands  of 
the  intelligent,  without  regard  to  race. 
With  the  sincerest  sympathy  with  you 
in  your  efforts  to  find  a  good  way  out  of 
the  difficulty,  I  want  to  suggest  that  no 
State  in  the  South  can  make  a  law  that 
will  provide  an  opportunity  or  tempta 
tion  for  an  ignorant  white  man  to  vote, 
and  withhold  the  opportunity  or  temp- 
tation  from  an  ignorant  coloured  man, 
without  injuring  both  men.  No  State 
can  make  a  law  that  can  thus  be  exe 
cuted  without  dwarfing,  for  all  time,  the 
morals  of  the  white  man  in  the  South. 
Any  law  controlling  the  ballot  that  is  not 
absolutely  just  and  fair  to  both  races 
will  work  more  permanent  injury  to  the 
whites  than  to  the  blacks. 

uThe  Negro  does  not  object  to  an 
educational  and  property  test,  but  let 
the  law  be  so  clear  that  no  one  clothed 
with  State  authority  will  be  tempted  to 

144 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

perjure  and  degrade  himself  by  putting 
one  interpretation  upon  it  for  the  white 
man  and  another  for  the  black  man. 
Study  the  history  of  the  South,  and 
you  will  find  that,  where  there  has  been 
the  most  dishonesty  in  the  matter  of 
voting,  there  you  will  find  to-day  the 
lowest  moral  condition  of  both  races. 
First,  there  was  the  temptation  to  act 
wrongly  with  the  Negro's  ballot.  From 
this  it  was  an  easy  step  to  act  dishon 
estly  with  the  white  man's  ballot,  to 
the  carrying  of  concealed  weapons,  to 
the  murder  of  a  Negro,  and  then  to  the 
murder  of  a  white  man,  and  then  to 
lynching.  I  entreat  you  not  to  pass  a 
law  that  will  prove  an  eternal  millstone 
about  the  necks  of  your  children.  No 
man  can  have  respect  for  the  govern 
ment  and  officers  of  the  law  when  he 
knows,  deep  down  in  his  heart,  that  the 
exercise  of  the  franchise  is  tainted  with 
fraud. 
"The  road  that  the  South  has  been 

MS 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

compelled  to  travel  during  the  last 
thirty  years  has  been  strewn  with  thorns 
and  thistles.  It  has  been  as  one  grop 
ing  through  the  long  darkness  into  the 
light.  V  The  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
the  world  will  begin  to  appreciate  the 
real  character  of  the  burden  that  was 
imposed  upon  the  South  in  giving 
the  franchise  to  four  millions  of  igno 
rant  and  impoverished  ex-slaves.  No 
people  was  ever  before  given  such  a 
problem  to  solve.  History  has  blazed 
no  path  through  the  wilderness  that 
could  be  followed.  For  thirty  years  we 
have  wandered  in  the  wilderness.  We 
are  now  beginning  to  get  out.  But 
there  is  only  one  road  out;  and  all 
makeshifts,  expedients,  profit  and  loss 
calculations,  but  lead  into  swamps, 
quicksands,  quagmires,  and  jungles. 
There  is  a  highway  that  will  lead  both 
races  out  into  the  pure,  beautiful  sun 
shine,  where  there  will  be  nothing  to 
hide  and  nothing  to  explain,  where  both 

146 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

races  can  grow  strong  and  true  and 
useful  in  every  fibre  of  their  being.  I 
believe  that  your  convention  will  find 
this  highway,  that  it  will  enact  a  fun 
damental  law  that  will  be  absolutely  just 
and  fair  to  white  and  black  alike.. 

"  I  beg  of  you,  further,  that  in  the 
degree  that  you  close,  the  ballot-box 
against  the  ignorant  you  will  open  the 
school-house.  More  than  one-half  of  the 
population  of  your  State  are  Negroes. 
No  State  can  long  prosper  when  a  large 
part  of  its  citizenship  is  in  ignorance 
and  poverty,  and  has  no  interest  in  the 
government.  I  beg  of  you  that  you  do 
not  treat  us  as  an  alien  people.  We  are 
not  aliens.  You  know  us.  You  know 
that  we  have  cleared  your  forests,  tilled 
your  fields,  nursed  your  children,  and 
protected  your  families.  There  is  an 
attachment  between  us  that  few  under 
stand.  While  I  do  not  presume  to  be 
able  to  advise  you,  yet  it  is  in  my  heart 
to  say  that,  if  your  convention  would  do 

M7 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

something  that  would  prevent  for  all 
time  strained  relations  between  the  two 
races,  and  would  permanently  settle 
the  matter  of  political  relations  in  one 
Southern  State  at  least,  let  the  very  best 
educational  opportunities  be  provided 
for  both  races;  and  add  to  this  an 
election  law  that  shall  be  incapable  of 
unjust  discrimination,  at  the  same  time 
providing  that,  in  proportion  as  the  ig 
norant  secure  education,  property,  and 
character,  they  will  be  given  the  right 
of  citizenship.  Any  other  course  will 
take  from  one-half  your  citizens  interest 
in  the  State,  and  hope  and  ambition  to 
become  intelligent  producers  and  tax 
payers,  and  useful  and  virtuous  citi 
zens.  Any  other  course  will  tie  the 
white  citizens  of  Louisiana  to  a  body  of 
death. 

"  The  Negroes  are  not  unmindful  of 
the  fact  that  the  poverty  of  the  State 
prevents  it  from  doing  all  that  it  de 
sires  for  public  education;  yet  I  be- 

148 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

lieve  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that 
ignorance  is  more  costly  to  the  State 
than  education,  that  it  will  cost  Loui 
siana  more  not  to  educate  the  Negroes 
than  it  will  to  educate  them.  In  con 
nection  with  a  generous  provision  for 
public  schools,  I  believe  that  nothing 
will  so  help  my  own  people  in  your  State 
as  provision  at  some  institution  for  the 
highest  academic  and  normal  training, 
in  connection  with  thorough  training 
in  agriculture,  mechanics,  and  domestic 
economy.  First-class  training  in  agri 
culture,  horticulture,  dairying,  stock-rais 
ing,  the  mechanical  arts,  and  domestic 
economy,  would  make  us  intelligent  pro 
ducers,  and  not  only  help  us  to  contrib 
ute  our  honest  share  as  tax-payers,  but 
would  result  in  retaining  much  money 
in  the  State  that  now  goes  outside  for 
that  which  can  be  as  well  produced  at 
home.  An  institution  which  will  give 
this  training  of  the  hand,  along  with 
the  highest  mental  culture,  would  soon 

149 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

convince  our  people  that  their  salvation 
is  largely  in  the  ownership  of  property 
and  in  industrial  and  business  devel 
opment,  rather  than  in  mere  political 
agitation. 

"  The  highest  test  of  the  civilisation 
of  any  race  is  in  its  willingness  to  extend 
a  helping  hand  to  the  less  fortunate.  A 
race,  like  an  individual,  lifts  itself  up 
by  lifting  others  up.  Surely,  no  people 
ever  had  a  greater  chance  to  exhibit  the 
highest  Christian  fortitude  and  magna 
nimity  than  is  now  presented  to  the 
people  of  Louisiana.  It  requires  little 
wisdom  or  statesmanship  to  repress,  to 
crush  out,  to  retard  the  hopes  and  as 
pirations  of  a  people;  but  the  highest 
and  most  profound  statesmanship  is 
shown  in  guiding  and  stimulating  a 
people,  so  that  every  fibre  in  the  body 
and  soul  shall  be  made  to  contribute  in 
the  highest  degree  to  the  usefulness 
and  ability  of  the  State.  It  is  along 
this  line  that  I  pray  God  the  thoughts 

'5° 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

and  activities  of  your  convention  may 
be  guided." 

As  to  such  outbreaks  as  have  re 
cently  occurred  in  North  Carolina  and 
South  Carolina,  the  remedy  will  not  be 
reached  by  the  Southern  white  man 
merely  depriving  the  Negro  of  his 
rights  and  privileges.  This  method 
is  but  superficial,  irritating,  and  must, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  be  short-lived. 
The  statesman,  to  cure  an  evil,  resorts 
to  enlightenment,  to  stimulation;  the 
politician,  to  repression.  I  have  just 
remarked  that  I  favour  the  giving  up 
of  nothing  that  is  guaranteed  to  us 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  or  that  is  fundamental  to  our 
citizenship.  While  I  hold  to  these 
views  as  strongly  as  any  one,  I  differ 
with  some  as  to  the  method  of  secur 
ing  the  permanent  and  peaceful  enjoy 
ment  of  all  the  privileges  guaranteed 
to  us  by  our  fundamental  law. 

In  finding  a  remedy,  we  must  recog- 


The*  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

nise  the  world-wide  fact  that  the  Negro 
must  be  led  to  see  and  feel  that  he  must 
make  every  effort  possible,  in  every  way 
possible,  to  secure  the  friendship,  the 
confidence,  the  co-operation  of  his  white 
neighbour  in  the  South.  To  do  this,  it 
is  not  necessary  for  the  Negro  to  be- 
come  a  truckler  or  a  trimmer.  The 
Southern  white  man  has  no  respect  for 
a  Negro  who  does  not  act  from  princi 
ple.  In  some  way  the  Southern  white 
man  must  be  led  to  see  that  it  is  to  his 
interest  to  turn  his  attention  more  and 
more  to  the  making  of  laws  that  will,  in 
the  truest  sense,  elevate  the  Negro.  At 
the  present  moment,  in  many  cases, 
when  one  attempts  to  get  the  Negro  to 
co-operate  with  the  Southern  white  man, 
he  asks  the  question,  "  Can  the  people 
who  force  me  to  ride  in  a  Jim  Crow  car, 
and  pay  first-class  fare,  be  my  best 
friends  ? "  In  answering  such  ques 
tions,  the  Southern  white  man,  as  well 
as  the  Negro,  has  a  duty  to  perform. 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

In  the  exercise  of  his  political  rights  I 
should  advise  the  Negro  to  be  temper 
ate  and  modest,  and  more  and  more  to 
do  his  own  thinking. 

I  believe  the  permanent  cure  for  our 
present  evils  will  come  through  a  prop 
erty  and  educational  test  for  voting  that 
shall  apply  honestly  and  fairly  to  both 
races.  This  will  cut  off  the  large  mass 
of  ignorant  voters  of  both  races  that  is 
now  proving  so  demoralising  a  factor  in 
the  politics  of  the  Southern  States. 

But,  most  of  all,  it  will  come  through 
industrial  development  of  the  Negro. 
Industrial  education  makes  an  intelli 
gent  producer  of  the  Negro,  who  be 
comes  of  immediate  value  to  the  com 
munity  rather  than  one  who  yields  to 
the  temptation  to  live  merely  by  politics 
or  other  parasitical  employments.  It 
will  make  him  soon  become  a  prop 
erty-holder;  and,  when  a  citizen  be 
comes  a  holder  of  property,  he  be 
comes  a  conservative  and  thoughtful 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

voter.  He  will  more  carefully  consider 
the  measures  and  individuals  to  be  voted 
for.  In  proportion  as  he  increases  his 
property  interests,  Jie  becomes  impcr- 
tant  as  a  tax-payer.  J 

There  is  little  trouble  between  the 
Negro  and  the  white  man  in  matters 
of  education;  and,  when  it  comes  to 
his  business  development,  the  black 
man  has  implicit  faith  in  the  advice 
of  the  Southern  white  man.  When 
he  gets  into  trouble  in  the  courts, 
which  requires  a  bond  to  be  given,  in 
nine  cases  out  of  ten,  he  goes  to  a 
Southern  white  man  for  advice  and  as 
sistance.  Every  one  who  has  lived  in 
the  South  knows  that,  in  many  of  the 
church  troubles  among  the  coloured 
people,  the  ministers  and  other  church 
officers  apply  to  the  nearest  white  minis- 
ter  for  assistance  and  instruction.  When 
by  reason  of  mutual  concession  we 
reach  the  point  where  we  shall  consult 
the  Southern  white  man  about  our  poli- 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

tics  as  we  now  consult  him  about  our 
business,  legal  and  religious  matters, 
there  will  be  a  change  for  the  better  in 
the  situation.  ] 

The  object-lesson  of  a  thousand  Ne 
groes  in  every  county  in  the  South 
who  own  neat  and  comfortable  homes, 
possessing  skill,  industry,  and  thrift, 
with  money  in  the  bank,  and  are  large 
tax-payers  co-operating  with  the  white 
men  in  the  South  in  every  manly  way 
for  the  development  of  their  own  com 
munities  and  counties,  will  go  a  long 
way,  in  a  few  years,  toward  changing  the 
present  status  of  the  Negro  as  a  citizen, 
as  well  as  the  attitude  of  the  whites 
toward  the  blacks. 

As  the  Negro  grows  in  industrial  and 
business  directions,  he  will  divide  in  his 
politics  on  economic  issues,  just  as  the 
white  man  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
now  divides  his  vote.  As  the  South 
grows  in  business  prosperity  it  will 
divide  its  vote  on  economic  issues, 

'55 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

just  as  other  sections  of  the  country 
divide  their  vote.  When  we  can  enact 
laws  that  result  in  honestly  cutting  off 
the  large  ignorant  and  non-tax-paying 
vote,  and  when  we  can  bring  both  races 
to  the  point  where  they  will  co-operate 
with  each  other  in  politics,  as  they  do 
now  in  matters  of  business,  religion, 
and  education,  the  problem  will  be  in 
a  large  measure  solved,  and  political 
outbreaks  will  cease. 


156 


CHAPTER   VII. 

ONE  of  the  great  questions  which 
Christian  education  must  face  in  the 
South  is  the  proper  adjustment  of  the 
new  relations  of  the  two  races.  It  is 
a  question  which  must  be  faced  calmly, 
quietly,  dispassionately;  and  the  time 
has  now  come  to  rise  above  party, 
above  race,  above  colour,  above  sec 
tionalism,  into  the  region  of  duty  of 
man  to  man,  of  American  to  American, 
of  Christian  to  Christian. 

I  remember  not  long  ago,  when 
about  five  hundred  coloured  people 
sailed  from  the  port  of  Savannah  bound 
for  Liberia,  that  the  news  was  flashed 
all  over  the  country,  "  The  Negro  has 
made  up  his  mind  to  return  to  his 
own  country,"  and  that,  "  in  this  was 
the  solution  of  the  race  problem  in 
the  South."  But  these  short-sighted 
people  forgot  the  fact  that  before  break 
fast  that  morning  about  five  hundred 

'57 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

more  Negro  children  were  born  in  the 
South  alone. 

^And  then,  once  in  a  while,  somebody 
is  so  bold  as  to  predict  that  the  Negro 
will  be  absorbed  by  the  white  race.  Let 
us  look  at  this  phase  of  the  question  for 
a  moment.  It  is  a  fact  that,  if  a  person 
is  known  to  have  one  per  cent,  of  Afri 
can  blood  in  his  veins,  he  ceases  to  be  a 
white  man.  The  ninety-nine  per  cent, 
of  Caucasian  blood  does  not  weigh  by 
the  side  of  the  one  per  cent,  of  African 
blood.  The!  white  blood  counts  for 
nothing.  The  person  is  a  Negro  every 
time.  So  it  will  be  a  very  difficult  task 
for  the  white  man  to  absorb  the  Negro. 
Somebody  else  conceived  the  idea  of 
colonising  the  coloured'people,  of  getting 
territory  where  nobody  lived,  putting 
the  coloured  people  there,  and  letting 
them  be  a  nation  all  by  themselves. 
There  are  two  objections  to  that.  First, 
you  would  have  to  build  one  wall  to 
keep  the  coloured  people  in,  and  an- 

158 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

other  wall  to  keep  the  white  people 
out.  If  you  were  to  build  ten  walls 
around  Africa  to-day  you  could  not 
keep  the  white  people  out,  especially  as 
long  as  there  was  a  hope  of  finding 
gold  there. 

I  have  always  had  the  highest  respect 
for  those  of  our  race  who,  in  trying  to 
find  a  solution  for  our  Southern  prob 
lem,  advised  a  return  of  the  race  to 
Africa,  and  because  of  my  respect  for 
'those  who  have  thus  advised,  especial 
ly  Bishop  Henry  M.  Turner,  I  have 
tried  to  make  a  careful  and  unbiassed 
study  of  the  question,  during  a  recent 
sojourn  in  Europe,  to  see  what  oppor 
tunities  presented  themselves  in  Africa 
for  self-development  and  self-govern 
ment 

I  am  free  to  say  that  I  see  no  way 
out  of  the  Negro's  present  condition 
in  the  South  by  returning  to  Africa. 
Aside  from  other  insurmountable  ob 
stacles,  there  is  no  place  in  Africa  for 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

him  to  go  where  his  condition  would 
be  improved.  All  Europe  —  especially 
England,  France,  and  Germany  —  has 
been  running  a  mad  race  for  the  last 
twenty  years,  to  see  which  could  gobble 
up  the  greater  part  of  Africa ;  and  there 
is  practically  nothing  left.  Old  King 
Cetewayo  put  it  pretty  well  when  he 
said,  "  First  come  missionary,  then  come 
rum,  then  come  traders,  then  come 
army  " ;  and  Cecil  Rhodes  has  expressed 
the  prevailing  sentiment  more  recently 
in  these  words,  "  I  would  rather  have 
land  than  *  niggers.1 "  And  Cecil  Rhodes 
is  directly  responsible  for  the  killing  of 
thousands  of  black  natives  in  South 
Africa,  that  he  might  secure  their  land. 
In  a  talk  with  Henry  M.  Stanley,  the 
explorer,  he  told  me  that  he  knew  no 
place  in  Africa  where  the  Negroes  of 
the  United  States  might  go  to  advan 
tage  ;  but  I  want  to  be  more  specific. 
Let  us  see  how  Africa  has  been  divided, 
and  then  decide  whether  there  is  a 

1 60 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

place  left  for  us.  On  the  Mediterranean 
coast  of  Africa,  Morocco  is  an  indepen 
dent  State,  Algeria  is  a  French  posses 
sion,  Tunis  is  a  French  protectorate, 
Tripoli  is  a  province  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  Egypt  is  a  province  of  Turkey. 
On  the  Atlantic  coast,  Sahara  is  a 
French  protectorate,  Adrar  is  claimed 
by  Spain,  Senegambia  is  a  French  trad 
ing  settlement,  Gambia  is  a  British 
crown  colony,  Sierra  Leone  is  a  British 
crown  colony.  Liberia  is  a  republic 
of  freed  Negroes,  Gold  Coast  and 
Ashanti  are  British  colonies  and  British 
protectorates,  Togoland  is  a  German 
protectorate,  Dahomey  is  a  kingdom 
subject  to  French  influence,  Slave 
Coast  is  a  British  colony  and  British 
protectorate,  Niger  Coast  is  a  British 
protectorate,  the  Cameroons  are  trad 
ing  settlements  protected  by  Germany, 
French  Congo  is  a  French  protectorate, 
Congo  Free  State  is  an  international 
African  Association,  Angola  and  Ben- 

161 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

guela  are  Portuguese  protectorates,  and 
the  inland  countries  are  controlled  as 
follows:  The  Niger  States,  Masina.etc., 
are  under  French  protection;  Land 
Gandu  is  under  British  protection,  ad 
ministered  by  the  Royal  Haussan  Niger 
Company. 

South  Africa  is  controlled  as  follows: 
Damara  and  Namaqua  Land  are  Ger 
man  protectorates,  Cape  Colony  is  a 
British  colony,  Basutoland  is  a  Crown 
colony,  Bechuanaland  is  a  British  pro 
tectorate,  Natal  is  a  British  colony, 
Zululand  is  a  British  protectorate, 
Orange  Free  State  is  independent,  the 
South  African  Republic  is  independent, 
and  the  Zambesi  is  administered  by  the 
British  South  African  Company.  Lou- 
rence  Marques  is  a  Portuguese  pos 
session. 

East  Africa  has  also  been  disposed  of 
in  the  following  manner:  Mozambique 
is  a  Portuguese  possession,  British  Cen 
tral  Africa  is  a  British  protectorate, 

162 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

German  East  Africa  is  in  the  German 
sphere  of  influence,  Zanzibar  is  a  sul 
tanate  under  British  protection,  British 
East  Africa  is  a  British  protectorate, 
Somaliland  is  under  British  and  Italian 
protection,  Abyssinia  is  independent. 
East  Soudan  (including  Nubia,  Kordo- 
fan,  Darfur,  and  Wadai)  is  in  the  Brit 
ish  sphere  of  influence.  It  will  be 
noted  that,  when  one  of  these  European 
countries  cannot  get  direct  control  over 
any  section  of  Africa,  it  at  once  gives 
it  out  to  the  world  that  the  country 
wanted  is  in  the  "  sphere  of  its  in 
fluence,"  —  a  very  convenient  term.  If 
we  are  to  go  to  Africa,  and  be  under  the 
control  of  another  government,  I  think 
we  should  prefer  to  take  our  chances 
in  the  "  sphere  of  influence "  of  the 
United  States. 

All  this  shows  pretty  conclusively 
that  a  return  to  Africa  for  the  Negro  is 
out  of  the  question,  even  provided  that 
a  majority  of  the  Negroes  wished  to 

163 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

go  back,  which  they  do  not  The  ad 
justment  of  the  relations  of  the  two 
races  must  take  place  here ;  and  it  is 
taking  place  slowly,  but  surely.  As  the 
Negro  is  educated  to  make  homes  and 
to  respect  himself,  the  white  man  will 
in  turn  respect  him. 

—  It  has  been  urged  that  the  Negro  has 
inherent  in  him  certain  traits  of  char 
acter  that  will  prevent  his  ever  reaching 
the  standard  of  civilisation  set  by  the 
whites,  and  taking  his  place  among 
them  as  an  equal.  It  may  be  some 
time  before  the  Negro  race  as  a  whole 
can  stand  comparison  with  the  white  in 
all  respects, —  it  would  be  most  remark 
able,  considering  the  past,  if  it  were 
not  so;  but  the  idea  that  his  objec 
tionable  traits  and  weaknesses  are  fun 
damental,  I  think,  is  a  mistake.  For, 
although  there  are  elements  of  weak 
ness  about  the  Negro  race,  there  are 
also  many  evidences  of  strength. 
v  It  is  an  encouraging  sign,  however, 

164 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

when  an  individual  grows  to  the  point 
where  he  can  hold  himself  up  for  per 
sonal  analysis  and  study.  .It  is  equally 
encouraging  for  a  race  to  be  able  to 
study  itself, —  to  measure  its  weakness 
and  strength.  It  is  not  helpful  to  a 
race  to  be  continually  praised  and 
have  its  weakness  overlooked,  neither 
is  it  the  most  helpful  thing  to  have 
its  faults  alone  continually  dwelt  upon. 
What  is  needed  is  downright,  straight 
forward  honesty  in  both  directions ;  and 
this  is  not  always  to  be  obtained. 
-  There  is  little  question  that  one  of 
the  Negroes'  weak  points  is  physical. 
Especially  is  this  true  regarding  those 
who  live  in  the  large  cities,  North  and 
South.  But  in  almost  every  case  this 
physical  weakness  can  be  traced  to 
ignorant  violation  of  the  laws  of  health 
or  to  vicious  habits.  The  Negro,  who 
during  slavery  lived  on  the  large  planta 
tions  in  the  South,  surrounded  by  re 
straints,  at  the  close  of  the  war  came  to 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

the  cities,  and  in  many  cases  found  the 
freedom  and  temptations  of  the  city  too 
much  for  him.  The  transition  was  too 
sudden. 

When  we  consider  what  it  meant  to 
have  four  millions  of  people  slaves  to 
day  and  freemen  to-morrow,  the  won 
der  is  that  the  race  has  not  suffered 
more  physically  than  it  has.  I  do  not 
believe  that  statistics  can  be  so  mar 
shalled  as  to  prove  that  the  Negro  as 
a  race  is  physically  or  numerically  on 
the  decline.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Negro  as  a  race  is  increasing  in  num 
bers  by  a  larger  percentage  than  is 
true  of  the  French  nation.  While  the 
death-rate  is  large  in  the  cities,  the 
birth-rate  is  also  large ;  and  it  is  to  be 
borne  in  mind  that  eighty-five  per  cent, 
of  these  people  in  the  Gulf  States  are 
in  the  country  districts  and  smaller 
towns,  and  there  the  increase  is  along 
healthy  and  normal  lines.  As  the  Ne 
gro  becomes  educated,  the  high  death- 

'166 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

rate  in  the  cities  will  disappear.  For 
proof  of  this,  I  have  only  to  mention 
that  a  few  years  ago  no  coloured  man 
could  get  insurance  in  the  large  first- 
class  insurance  companies.  Now  there 
are  few  of  these  companies  which  do  not 
seek  the  insurance  of  educated  coloured 
men.  In  the  North  and  South  the 
physical  intoxication  that  was  the  re 
sult  of  sudden  freedom  is  giving  way 
to  an  encouraging,  sobering  process ; 
and,  as  this  continues,  the  high  death- 
rate  will  disappear  even,  in  the  large 
cities. 

Another  element  of  weakness  which 
shows  itself  in  the  present  stage  of  the 
civilisation  of  the  Negro  is  his  lack  of 
ability  to  form  a  purpose  and  stick  to  it 
through  a  series  of  years,  if  need  be, — 
years  that  involve  discouragement  as 
well  as  encouragement, —  till  the  end 
shall  be  reached.  Of  course  there  are 
brilliant  exceptions  to  this  rule;  but 
there  is  no  question  that  here  is  an 

167 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

• 
element  of  weakness,  and  the  same,  I 

think,  would  be  true   of  any  race  with 
the  Negro's  history. 

Few  of  the  resolutions  which  are 
made  in  conventions,  etc,,  are  remem 
bered  and  put  into  practice  six  months 
after  the  warmth  and  enthusiasm  of  the 
debating  hall  have  disappeared.  This,  I 
know,  is  an  element  of  the  white  man's 
weakness,  but  it  is  the  Negro  I  am  dis 
cussing,  not  the  white  man.  Individ 
ually,  the  Negro  is  strong.  Collec 
tively,  he  is  weak.  This  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at.  The  ability  to  succeed  in 
organised  bodies  is  one  of  the  highest 
points  in  civilisation.  There  are  scores 
of  coloured  men  who  can  succeed  in 
any  line  of  business  as  individuals,  or 
will  discuss  any  subject  in  a  most  intel 
ligent  manner,  yet  who,  when  they  at 
tempt  to  act  in  an  organised  body,  are 
utter  failures. 

/"But  the  weakness  of  the  Negro  which 
is  most  frequently  held  up  to  the  public 

1 68 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

gaze  is  that  of  his  moral  character.  No 
one  who  wants  to  be  honest  and  at 
the  same  time  benefit  the  race  will 
deny  that  here  is  where  the  strength 
ening  is  to  be  done.  It  has  become 
universally  accepted  that  the  family  is 
the  foundation,  the  bulwark,  of  any 
race.  It  should  be  remembered,  sor 
rowfully  withal,  that  it  was  the  con 
stant  tendency  of  slavery  to  destroy  the 
family  life.  All  through  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  of  slavery,  one  of  the 
chief  objects  was  to  increase  the  num 
ber  of  slaves;  and  to  this  end  almost 
all  thought  of  morality  was  lost  sight 
of,  so  that  the  Negro  has  had  only 
about  thirty  years  in  which  to  develop 
a  family  life;  while  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race,  with  which  he  is  constantly 
being  compared,  has  had  thousands 
of  years  of  training  in  home  life.  The 
Negro  felt  all  through  the  years  of 
bondage  that  he  was  being  forcibly  and 
unjustly  deprived  of  the  fruits  of  his 

169 


The  Future  of  the  American  .Negro 

labour.  Hence  he  felt  that  anything 
he  could  get  from  the  white  man  in 
return  for  this  labour  justly  belonged  to 
him.  Since  this  was  true,  we  must  be 
patient  in  trying  to  teach  him  a  differ 
ent  code  of  morals. 

'  From  the  nature  of  things,  all  through 
slavery  it  was  life  in  the  future  world 
that  was  emphasised  in  religious  teach 
ing  rather  than  life  in  this  world.  In 
his  religious  meetings  in  ante-bellum 
days  the  Negro  was  prevented  from 
discussing  many  points  of  practical  re 
ligion  which  related  to  this  world; 
and  the  white  minister,  who  was  his 
spiritual  guide,  found  it  more  conven 
ient  to  talk  about  heaven  than  earth,  so 
very  naturally  that  to-d;iy  in  his  relig 
ious  meeting  it  is  the  Negro's  feelings 
which  are  worked  upon  mostly,  and  it 
is  description  of  the  glories  of  heaven 
that  occupy  most  of  the  time  of  his 
sermon. 

C  Having   touched    upon  some  of  the 

170 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

weak  points  of  the  Negro,  what  are  his 
strong  characteristics?  The  Negro  in 
America  is  different  from  most  people 
for  whom  missionary  effort  is  made,  in 
that  he  works.  He  is  not  ashamed  or 
afraid  of  work.  When  hard,  constant 
work  is  required,  ask  any  Southern 
white  man,  and  he  will  tell  you  that  in 
this  the  Negro  has  no  superior.  He  is 
not  given  to  strikes  or  to  lockouts.  He 
not  only  works  himself,  but  he  is  un 
willing  to  prevent  other  people  from 
working. 

Of  the  forty  buildings  of  various  kinds 
and  sizes  on  the  grounds  of  the  Tuske- 
gee  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute,  in 
Alabama,  as  I  have  stated  before,  almost 
all  of  them  are  the  results  of  the  labour 
performed  by  the  students  while  secur 
ing  their  academic  education.  One  day 
the  student  is  in  his  history  class.  The 
next  day  the  same  student,  equally 
happy,  with  his  trowel  and  in  overalls, 
is  working  on  a  brick  wall. 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

While  at  present  the  Negro  may  lack 
that  tenacious  mental  grasp  which  en 
ables  one  to  pursue  a  scientific  or  math 
ematical  investigation  through  a  series 
of  years,  he  has  that  delicate,  mental 
feeling  which  enables  him  to  succeed  in 
oratory,  music,  etc. 

Vw  While  I  have  spoken  of  the  Negro's 
moral  weakness,  I  hope  it  will  be  kept 
in  mind  that  in  his  original  state  his  is 
an  honest  race.  It  was  slavery  that 
corrupted  him  in  this  respect.  But  in 
morals  he  also  has  his  strong  points. 

Few  have  ev£r  found  the  Negro 
guilty  of  betraying  a  trust.  There  are 
almost  no  instances  in  which  the  Negro 
betrayed  either  a  Federal  or  a  Con 
federate  soldier  who  confided  in  him. 
There  are  few  instances  where  the 
Negro  has  been  entrusted  with  valua 
bles  when  he  has  not  been  faithful. 
This  country  has  never  had  a  more 
loyal  citizen.  He  has  never  proven 
himself  a  rebel.  Should  the  Southern 

172 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

States,  which  so  long  held  him  in  slav 
ery,  be  invaded  by  a  foreign  foe,  the 
Negro  would  be  among  the  first  to 
come  to  the  rescue. 

Perhaps  the  most  encouraging  thing 
in  connection  with  the  lifting  up  of 
the  Negro  in  this  country  is  the  fact 
that  he  knows  that  he  is  down  and 
wants  to  get  up,  he  knows  that  he  is 
ignorant  and  wants  to  get  light.  He 
fills  every  school-house  and  every  church 
which  is  opened  for  him.  He  is  willing 

to  follow  leaders,  when  he  is  once  con- 

• 

vinced  that  the  leaders  have  his  best  in 
terest  at  heart. 

Under  the  constant  influence  of  the 
Christian  education  which  began  thirty- 
five  years  ago,  his  religion  is  every  year 
becoming  less  emotional  and  more  ra 
tional  and  practical,  though  I,  for  one, 
hope  that  he  will  always  retain  in  a 
large  degree  the  emotional  element  in 
religion. 

During  the  two  hundred  and*  fifty 
'73 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

years  that  the  Negro  spent  in  slavery 
he  had  little  cause  or  incentive  to  ac 
cumulate  money  or  property.  Thirty- 
five  years  ago  this  was  something  which 
he  had  to  begin  to  learn.  While  the 
great  bulk  of  the  race  is  still  without 
money  and  property,  yet  the  signs  of 
thrift  are  evident  on  every  hand.  Es 
pecially  is  this  noticeable  in  the  large 
number  of  neat  little  homes  which  are 
owned  by  these  people  on  the  outer 
edges  of  the  towns  and  cities  in  the 
South. 

I  wish  to  give  an  example  of  the  sort 
of  thing  the  Negro  has  to  contend  with, 
however,  in  his  efforts  to  lift  himself  up. 

Not  long  ago  a  mother,  a  black 
mother,  who  lived  in  one  of  our  North 
ern  States,  had  heard  it  whispered 
around  in  her  community  for  years 
that  the  Negro  was  lazy,  shiftless,  and 
would  not  work.  So,  when  her  only 
boy  grew  to  sufficient  size,  at  consider 
able  expense  and  great  self-sacrifice, 

'74 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

she  had  her  boy  thoroughly  taught  the 
machinist's  trade.  A  job  was  secured 
in  a  neighbouring  shop.  With  dinner 
bucket  in  hand  and  spurred  on  by 
the  prayers  of  the  now  happy-hearted 
mother,  the  boy  entered  the  shop  to. 
begin  his  first  day's  work.  What  hap 
pened?  Every  one  of  the  twenty  white 
men  threw  down  his  tools,  and  deliber 
ately  walked  out,  swearing  that  he 
would  not  give  a  black  man  an  oppor 
tunity  to  earn  an  honest  living.  Another 
shop  was  tried  with  the  same  result,  and 
still  another,  the  result  ever  the  same. 
To-day  this  once  promising,  ambitious 
black  man  is  a  wreck, —  a  confirmed 
drunkard, —  with  no  hope,  no  ambition. 
I  ask,  Who  blasted  the  life  of  this  young 
man?  On  whose  hands  does  his  life- 
blood  rest?  The  present  system  of 
education,  or  rather  want  of  education, 
is  responsible. 

Public   schools  and   colleges   should 
turn  out  men  who  will  throw  open  the 

'75 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

doors  of  industry,  so  that  all  men,  every, 
where,  regardless  of  colour,  shall  have 
the  same  opportunity  to  earn  a  dollar 
that  they  now  have  to  spend  it.  I 
know  of  a  good  many  kinds  of  cow 
ardice  and  prejudice,  but  I  know  none 
equal  to  this.  I  know  not  which  is  the 
worst, —  the  slaveholder  who  perforce 
compelled  his  slave  to  work  without 
compensation  or  the  man  who,  by  force 
and  strikes,  compels  his  neighbour  to 
refrain  from  working  for  compensation. 
7  The  Negro  will  be  on  a  different 
footing  in  this  country  when  it  becomes 
common  to  associate  the  possession  of 
wealth  with  a  black  skin.  It  is  not 
within  the  province  of  human  nature 
that  the  man  who  is  intelligent  and  virt 
uous,  and  owns  and  cultivates  the  best 
farm  in  his  county,  is  the  largest  tax 
payer,  shall  very  long  be  denied  proper 
respect  and  consideration.  Those  who 
would  help  the  Negro  most  effectually 
during  the  next  fifty  years  can  do  so 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

by  assisting  in  his  development  along 
scientific  and  industrial  lines  in  con 
nection  with  the  broadest  mental  and 
religious  culture. 

I  From  the  results  of  the  war  with 
Spain  let  us  learn  this,  that  God  has 
been  teaching  the  Spanish  nation  a 
terrible  lesson.  What  is  it?  Simply 
this,  that  no  nation  can  disregard  the 
interest  of  any  portion  of  its  members 
without  that  nation  becoming  weak  and 
corrupt.  The  penalty  may  be  long 
delayed.  God  has  been  teaching  Spain 
that  for  every  one  of  her  subjects  that 
she  has  left  in  ignorance,  poverty,  and 
crime  the  price  must  be  paid;  and,  if 
it  has  not  been  paid  with  the  very  heart 
of  the  nation,  it  must  be  paid  with  the 
proudest  and  bluest  blood  of  her  sons 
and  with  treasure  that  is  beyond  com 
putation.  From  this  spectacle  I  pray 
God  that  America  will  learn  a  lesson 
in  respect  to  the  ten  million  Negroes 
in  this  country. 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro  ' 

The  Negroes  in  the  United  States 
are,  in  most  of  the  elements  of  civilisa 
tion,  weak.  Providence  has  placed  them 
here  not  without  a  purpose.  One  ob 
ject,  in  my  opinion,  is  that  the  stronger 
race  may  imbibe  a  lesson  from  the 
weaker  in  patience,  forbearance,  and 
childlike  yet  supreme  trust  in  the  God 
of  the  Universe.  This  race  has  been 
placed  here  that  the  white  man  might 
have  a  great  opportunity  of  lifting  him 
self  by  lifting  it  up. 

"  Out  from  the  Negro  colleges  and  in 
dustrial  schools  in  the  South  there  are 
going  forth  each  year  thousands  of 
young  men  and  women  into  dark  and 
secluded  corners,  into  lonely  log  school- 
houses,  amidst  poverty  and  ignorance; 
and  though,  when  they  go  forth,  no 
drums  beat,  no  banners  fly,  no  friends 
cheer,  yet  they  are  fighting  the  battles 
of  this  country  just  as  truly  and  bravely 
as  those  who  go  forth  to  do  battle 
against  a  foreign  enemy. 

178 


*  The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

If  they  are  encouraged  and  properly 
supported  in  their  work  of  educating 
the  masses  in  the  industries,  in  economy, 
and  in  morals,  as  well  as  mentally,  they 
will,  before  many  years,  get  the  race 
upon  such  an  intellectual,  industrial,  and 
financial  footing  that  it  will  be  able  to 
enjoy  without  much  trouble  all  the  rights 
inherent  in  American  citizenship. 

Now,  if  we  wish  to  bring  the  race  to 
a  point  where  it  should  be,  where  it 
will  be  strong,  and  grow  and  prosper, 
we  have  got  to,  in  every  way  possible, 
encourage  it.  We  can  do  this  in  no 
better  way  than  by  cultivating  that 
amount  of  faith  in  the  race  which  will 
make  us  patronise  its  own  enterprises 
wherever  those  enterprises  are  worth 
patronising.  I  do  not  believe  much  in 
the  advice  that  is  often  given  that  we 
should  patronise  the  enterprises  of  our 
race  without  regard  to  the  worth  of 
those  enterprises.  I  believe  that  the 
best  way  to  bring  the  race  to  the  point 

179 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

where  it  will  compare  with  other  races 
is  to  let  it  understand  that,  whenever 
it  enters  into  any  line  of  business, 
it  will  be  patronised  just  in  propor 
tion  as  it  makes  that  business  as  suc 
cessful,  as  useful,  as  is  true  of  any  busi- 
ness  enterprise  conducted  by  any  other 
race.  The  race  that  would  grow  strong 
and  powerful  must  have  the  element 
of  hero-worship  in  it  that  will,  in  the 
largest  degree,  make  it  honour  its  great 
men,  the  men  who  have  succeeded 
in  that  race.  I  think  we  should  be 
ashamed  of  the  coloured  man  or  woman 
who  would  not  venerate  the  name  of 
Frederick  Douglass.  No  race  that 
would  not  look  upon  such  a  man  with 
honour  and  respect  and  pride  could 
ever  hope  to  enjoy  the  respect  of  any 
other  race.  I  speak  of  this,  not  that  I 
want  my  people  to  regard  themselves  in 
a  narrow,  bigoted  sense,  because  there 
is  nothing  so  hurtful  to  an  individual  or 
to  a  race  as  to  get  into  the  habit  of  feel- 

180 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

ing  that  there  is  no  good  except  in  its 
own  race,  but  because  I  wish  that  it 
may  have  reasonable  pride  in  all  that  is 
honourable  in  its  history.  Whenever 
you  hear*  a  coloured  man  say  that  he 
hates  the  people  of  the  other  race, 
there,  in  most  instances,  you  will  find 
a  weak,  narrow-minded  coloured  man. 
And,  whenever  you  find  a  white  man 
who  expresses  the  same  sentiment 
toward  the  people  of  other  races,  there, 
too,  in  almost  every  case,  you  will  find 
a  narrow-minded,  prejudiced  white  man. 

That  person  is  the  broadest,  strong 
est,  and  most  useful  who  sees  something 
to  love  and  admire  in  all  races,  no 
matter  what  their  colour. 

If  the  Negro  race  wishes  to  grow 
strong,  it  must  learn  to  respect  itself, 
not  to  be  ashamed.  It  must  learn  that 
it  will  only  grow  in  proportion  as  its 
members  have  confidence  in  it,  in  pro 
portion  as  they  believe  that  it  is  a 
coming  race. 

181 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

We  have  reached  a  period  when  edu 
cated  Negroes  should  give  more  atten- 
tion  to  the  history  of  their  race ;  should 
devote  more  time  to  finding  out  the 
true  history  of  the  race,  and  in  collect 
ing  in  some  museum  the  relics  that 
mark  its  progress.  It  is  true  of  all 
races  of  culture  and  refinement  and 
civilisation  that  they  have  gathered  in 
some  place  the  relics  which  mark  the 
progress  of  their  civilisation,  which 
show  how  they  lived  from  period  to 
period.  We  should  have  so  much  pride 
that  we  would  spend  more  time  in  look 
ing  into  the  history  of  the  race,  more 
effort  and  money  in  perpetuating  in 
some  durable  form  its  achievements,  so 
that  from  year  to  year,  instead  of  look 
ing  back  with  regret,  we  can  point  to 
our  children  the  rough  path  through 
which  we  grew  strong  and  great. 

We  have  a  very  bright  and  striking 
example  in  the  history  of  the  Jews  in 
this  and  other  countries.  There  is, 

182 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

perhaps,  no  race  that,  has  suffered  so 
much,  not  so  much  in  America  as  in 
some  of  the  countries  in  Europe.  But 
these  people  have  clung  together. 
They  have  had  a  certain  amount  of 
unity,  pride,  and  love  of  race ;  and,  as 
the  years  go  on,  they  will  be  more  and 
more  influential  in  this  country, —  a 
country  where  they  were  once  despised, 
and  looked  upon  with  scorn  and  deri 
sion.  It  is  largely  because  the  Jewish 
race  has  had  faith  in  itself.  Unless  the 
Negro  learns  more  and  more  to  imitate 
the  Jew  in  these  matters,  to  have  faith 
in  himself,  he  cannot  expect  to  have 
any  high  degree  of  success. 

I  wish  to  speak  upon  another  subject 
which  largely  concerns  the  welfare  of 
both  races,  especially  in  the  South, — 
lynching.  It  is  an  unpleasant  subject ; 
but  I  feel  that  I  should  be  omitting 
some  part  of  my  duty  to  both  races  did 
I  not  say  something  on  the  subject. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  South  has 

'83 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

appealed  to  the  North  and  to  federal 
authorities,  through  the  public  press, 
from  the  public  platform,  and  most 
eloquently  through  the  late  Henry  \V. 
Grady,  to  leave  the  whole  matter  of  the 
rights  and  protection  of  the  Negro  to 
the  South,  declaring  that  it  would  see 
to  it  that  the  Negro  would  be  made 
secure  in  his  citizenship.  During  the 
last  half-dozen  years  the  whole  country, 
from  the  President  down,  has  been  in 
clined  more  than  ever  to  pursue  this 
policy,  leaving  the  whole  matter  of  the 
destiny  of  the  Negro  to  the  Negro 
himself  and  to  the  Southern  white 
people,  among  whom  the  great  bulk  of 
Negroes  live. 

By  the  present  policy  of  non-inter- 
ference  on  the  part  of  the  North  and 
the  federal  government  the  South  is 
given  a  sacred  trust.  How  will  she 
execute  this  trust  ?  The  world  is  wait 
ing  and  watching  to  see.  The  question 
must  be  answered  largely  by  the  pro- 

184 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

tection  it  gives  to  the  life  of  the  Negro 
and  the  provisions  that  are  made  for 
his  development  in  the  organic  laws  of 
the  State.  I  fear  that  but  few  people 
in  the  South  realise  to  what  an  extent 
the  habit  of  lynching,  or  the  taking  of 
life  without  due  process  of  law,  has 
taken  hold  of  us,  and  is  hurting  us,  not 
only  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  but  in 
our  own  moral  and  material  growth. 

Lynching  was  instituted  some  years 
ago  with  the  idea  of  punishing  and 
checking  criminal  assaults  upon  women. 
Let  us  examine  the  facts,  and  see  where 
it  has  already  led  us  and  is  likely  further 
to  carry  us,  if  we  do  not  rid  ourselves 
of  the  evil.  Many  good  people  in  the 
South,  and  also  out  of  the  South,  have 
gotten  the  idea .  that  lynching  is  re 
sorted  to  for  one  crime  only.  I  have 
the  facts  from  an  authoritative  source. 
During  last  year  one  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  persons  were  lynched  in 
the  United  States.  Of  this  number, 

185 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

one  hundred  and  eighteen  were  exe 
cuted  in  the  South  and  nine  in  the 
North  and  West  Of  the  total  number 
lynched,  one  hundred  and  two  were 
Negroes,  twenty-three  were  whites,  and 
two  Indians.  Now,  let  every  one  inter 
ested  in  the  South,  his  country,  and  the 
cause  of  humanity,  note  this  fact, —  that 
only  twenty-four  of  the  entire  number 
were  charged  in  any  way  with  the  crime 
of  rape ;  that  is,  twenty-four  out  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  cases  of 
lynching.  Sixty-one  of  the  remaining 
cases  were  for  murder,  thirteen  for 
being  suspected  of  murder,  six  for  theft, 
etc.  During  one  week  last  spring,  when 
I  kept  a  careful  record,  thirteen  Negroes 
were  lynched  in  three  of  our  Southern 
States ;  and  not  one  was  even  charged 
with  rape.  All  of  .these  thirteen  were 
accused  of  murder  or  house-burning; 
but  in  neither  case  were  the  men  al 
lowed  to  go  before  a  court,  so  that  their 
innocence  or  guilt  might  be  proven. 

186 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

When  we  get  to  the  point  where  four- 
fifths  of  the  people  lynched  in  our  coun 
try  in  one  year  are  for  some  crime  other 
than  rape,  we  can  no  longer  plead  and 
explain  that  we  lynch  for  one  crime 
alone. 

Let  us  take  another  year,  that  of 
1892,  for  example,  when  241  persons 
were  lynched  in  the  whole  United 
States.  Of  this  number  36  were 
lynched  in  Northern  and  Western 
States,  and  205  in  our  Southern  States ; 
1 60  were  Negroes,  5  of  these  being 
women.  The  facts  show  that,  out  of 
the  241  lynched,  only  57  were  even 
charged  with  rape  or  attempted  rape, 
leaving  in  this  year  alone  184  persons 
who  were  lynched  for  other  causes  than 
that  of  rape. 

If  it  were  necessary,  I  could  produce 
figures  for  other  years.  Within  a  period 
of  six  years  about  900  persons  have 
been  lynched  in  our  Southern  States. 
This  is  but  a  few  hundred  short  of  the 

187 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

total  number  of  soldiers  who  lost  their 
lives  in  Cuba  during  the  Spanish- 
American  War.  If  we  would  realise 
still  more  fully  how  far  this  unfortunate 
evil  is  leading  us  on,  note  the  classes  of 
crime  during  a  few  months  for  which  the 
local  papers  and  the  Associated  Press 
say  that  lynching  has  been  inflicted. 
They  include  "murder,"  "rioting,"  "in 
cendiarism,"  "  robbery,"  "  larceny,"  "  self- 
defence,"  "insulting  women,"  "alleged 
stock-poisoning,""  malpractice,"  "alleged 
barn  -  burning,"  "  suspected  robbery," 
"race  prejudice,"  "attempted  murder," 
"  horse-stealing,"  "  mistaken  identity," 
etc. 

The  evil  has  so  grown  that  we  are 
now  at  the  point  where  not  only  blacks 
are  lynched  in  the  South,  but  white 
men  as  well.  Not  only  this,  but  within 
the  last  six  years  at  least  a  half-dozen 
coloured  women  have  been  lynched. 
And  there  are  a  few  cases  where  Ne 
groes  have  lynched  members  of  their 

188 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

own  race.  What  is  to  be  the  end  of 
all  this?  Furthermore,  every  lynching 
drives  hundreds  of  Negroes  out  of  the 
farming  districts  of  the  South,  where 
they  make  the  best  living  and  where 
their  services  are  of  greatest  value  to 
the  country,  into  the  already  over 
crowded  cities. 

I  know  that  some  argue  that  the 
crime  of  lynching  Negroes  is  not  con 
fined  to  the  South.  This  is  true ;  and 
no  one  can  excuse  such  a  crime  as  the 
shooting  of  innocent  black  men  in  Illi 
nois,  who  were  guilty  of  nothing,  except 
seeking  labour.  But  my  words  just 
now  are  to  the  South,  where  my  home 
is  and  a  part  of  which  I  am.  Let 
other  sections  act  as  they  will ;  I  want 
to  see  our  beautiful  Southland  free  from 
this  terrible  evil  of  lynching.  Lynching 
does  not  stop  crime.  In  the  vicinity  in 
the  South  where  a  coloured  man  was 
alleged  recently  to  have  committed  the 
most  terrible  crime  ever  charged  against 

189 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

a  member  of  my  race,  but  a  few  Weeks 
previously  five  coloured  men  had  been 
lynched  for  supposed  incendiarism.  If 
lynching  was  a  cure  for  crime,  surely 
the  lynching  of  those  five  would  have 
prevented  another  Negro  from  commit- 
ting  a  most  heinous  crime  a  few  weeks 
later. 

We  might  as  well  face  the  facts 
bravely  and  wisely.  Since  the  begin 
ning  of  the  world  crime  has  been  com 
mitted  in  all  civilised  and  uncivilised 
countries,  and  a  certain  percentage  of 
it  will  always  be  committed  both  in. 
the  North  and  in  the  South ;  but  I  be 
lieve  that  the  crime  of  rape  can  be 
stopped.  In  proportion  to  the  numbers 
and  intelligence  of  the  population  of  the 
South,  there  exists  little  more  crime 
than  in  several  other  sections  of  the 
country;  but,  because  of  the  lynching 
evil,  we  are  constantly  advertising  our 
selves  to  the  world  as  a  lawless  people. 
We  cannot  disregard  the  teachings  of 

190 


The  Future  of  the  American    Negro 

the  civilised  world  for  eighteen  hundred 
years,  that  the  only  way  to  punish  crime 
is  by  law.  When  we  leave  this  anchor 
age  chaos  begins. 

I  am  not  pleading  for  the  Negro  alone. 
Lynching  injures,  hardens,  and  blunts 
the  moral  sensibilities  of  the  young  and 
tender  manhood  of  the  South.  Never 
shall  I  forget  the  remark  by  a  little  nine- 
year-old  white  boy,  with  blue  eyes  and 
flaxen  hair.  The  little  fellow  said  to  his 
mother,  after  he  had  returned  from  a 
lynching:  "  I  have  seen  a  man  hanged; 
now  I  wish  I  could  see  one  burned/1 
Rather  than  hear  such  a  remark  from 
one  of  my  little  boys,  I  would  prefer  to 
see  him  in  his  grave.  This  is  not  all. 
Every  community  guilty  of  lynching  \ 
says  in  so  many  words  to  the  governor, 
to  the  legislature,  to  the  sheriff,  to  the 
jury,  and  to  the  judge:  "We  have  no  / 
faith  in  'you  and  no  respect  for  you. 
We  have  no  respect  for  the  law  which 
we  helped  to  make." 

191 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

In  the  South,  at  the  present  time, 
there  is  less  excuse  for  not  permitting 
the  law  to  take  its  course  where  a  Negro 
is  to  be  tried  than  anywhere  else  in  the 
world ;  for,  almost  without  exception,  the 
governors,  the  sheriffs,  the  judges,  the 
juries,  and  the  lawyers  are  all  white 
men,  and  they  can  be  trusted,  as  a  rule, 
to  do  their  duty.  Otherwise,  it  is  need- 
less  to  tax  the  people  to  support  these 
officers.  If  our  present  laws  are  not 
sufficient  properly  to  punish  crime,  let 
the  laws  be  changed ;  but  that  the  pun 
ishment  may  be  by  lawfully  constituted 
authorities  is  the  plea  I  make.  The 
history  of  the  world  proves  that  where 
the  law  is  most  strictly  enforced  there 
is  the  least  crime:  where  people  take 
the  administration  of  the  law  into  their 
own  hands  there  is  the  most  crime. 

But  there  is  still  another  side.  The 
white  man  in  the  South  has  not  only  a 
serious  duty  and  responsibility,  but  the 
Negro  has  a  duty  and  responsibility  in 

192 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

this  matter.  In  speaking  of  my  own 
people,  I  want  to  be  equally  frank ;  but 
.1  speak  with  the  greatest  kindness. 
There  is  too  much  crime  among  them. 
The  figures  for  a  given  period  show 
that  in  the  United  States  thirty  per 
cent,  of  the  crime  committed  is  by 
Negroes,  while  we  constitute  only  about 
twelve  per  cent,  of  the  entire  population. 
This  proportion  holds  good  not  only  in 
the  South,  but  also  in  Northern  States 
and  cities. 

No  race  that  is  so  largely  ignorant 
and  so  recently  out  of  slavery  could,  per 
haps,  show  a  better  record,  but  we  must 
face  these  plain  facts.  He  is  most  kind 
to  the  Negro  who  tells  him  of  his  faults 
as  well  as  of  his  virtues.  A  large  per 
centage  of  the  crime  among  us  grows 
out  of  the  idleness  of  our  young  men 
and  women.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
I  have  tried  to  insist  upon  some  indus 
try  being  taught  in  connection  with 
their  course  of  literary  training.  It  is 

'93 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

vitally  important  now  that  every  parent, 
every  teacher  and  minister  of  the  gos 
pel,  should  teach  with  unusual  emphasis 
morality  and  obedience  to  the  law.  At 
the  firesidei  in  the  school-room,  in  the 
Sunday-school,  from  the  pulpit,  and 
in  the  Negro  press,  there  should  be 
such  a  sentiment  created  regarding  the 
committing  of  crime  against  women 
that  no  such  crime  could  be  charged 
against  any  member  of  the  race.  Let  it 
be  understood,  for  all  time,  that  no  one 
guilty  of  rape  can  find  sympathy  or 
shelter  with  us,  and  that  none  will  be 
more  active  than  we  in  bringing  to  jus 
tice,  through  the  proper  authorities, 
those  guilty  of  crime.  Let  the  criminal 
and  vicious  element  of  the  race  have,  at 
all  times,  our  most  severe  condemnation. 
Let  a  strict  line  be  drawn  between  the 
virtuous  and  the  criminal.  I  condemn, 
with  all  the  indignation  of  my  soul,  any 
beast  in  human  form  guilty  of  assault 
ing  a  woman.  I  am  sure  I  voice  the 

194 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

sentiment  of  the  thoughtful  of  my  race 
in  this  condemnation. 

We  should  not,  as  a  race,  become  dis 
couraged.  We  are  making  progress. 
No  race  has  ever  gotten  upon  its  feet 
without  discouragements  and  struggles. 

I  should  be  a  great  hypocrite  and  a 
coward  if  I  did  not  add  that  which  my 
daily  experience  has  taught  me  to  be 
true ;  namely,  that  the  Negro  has  among 
many  of  the  Southern  whites  as  good 
friends  as  he  has  anywhere  in  the  world. 
These  friends  have  not  forsaken  us. 
They  will  not  do  so.  Neither  will  our 
friends  in  the  North.  If  we  make  our 
selves  intelligent,  industrious,  econom 
ical,  and  virtuous,  of  value  to  the  com 
munity  in  which  we  live,  we  can  and 
will  work  out  our  salvation  right  here 
in  the  South.  In  every  community,  by 
means  of  organised  effort,  we  should 
seek,  in  a  manly  and  honourable  way,  the 
confidence,  the  co-operation,  the  sym 
pathy,  of  the  best  white  people  in  the 

'95 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

—_-_____-___---_-_—-___-__--_-———_-_-——-——-_-_-___— ____^____ 

South  and  in  our  respective  communi 
ties.  With  the  best  white  people  and 
the  best  black  people  standing  together, 
in  favour  of  law  and  order  and  justice, 
I  believe  that  the  safety  and  happiness 
of  both  races  will  be  made  secure. 

We  are  one  in  this  country.  The 
question  of  the  highest  citizenship  and 
the  complete  education  of  all  concerns 
nearly  ten  millions  of  my  people  and 
sixty  millions  of  the  white  race.  When 
one  race  is  strong,  the  other  is  strong; 
when  one  is  weak,  the  other  is  weak. 
There  is  no  power  that  can  separate 
our  destiny.  Unjust  laws  and  customs 
which  exist  in  many  places  injure  the 
white  man  and  inconvenience  the  Ne 
gro.  No  race  can  wrong  another  race, 
simply  because  it  has  the  power  to  do 
so,  without  being  permanently  injured 
in  its  own  morals.  The  Negro  can 
endure  the  temporary  inconvenience, 
but  the  injury  to  the  white  man  is  per 
manent.  It  is  for  the  white  man  to 

196 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

save  himself  from  this  degradation  that 
I  plead.  If  a  white  man  steals  a  Negro's 
ballot,  it  is  the  white  man  who  is  per 
manently  injured.  Physical  death  comes 
to  the  one  Negro  lynched  in  a  county ; 
but  death  of  the  morals  —  death  of  the 
soul  —  comes  to  those  responsible  for 
the  lynching. 

Those  who  fought  and  died  on  the 
battlefield  for  the  freedom  of  the  slaves 
performed  their  duty  heroically  and 
well,  but  a  duty  remains  to -those  left. 
The  mere  fiat  of  law  cannot  make  an 
ignorant  voter  an  intelligent  voter,  can 
not  make  a  dependent  man  an  inde 
pendent  man,  cannot  make  one  citizen 
respect  another.  These  results  will 
come  to  the  Negro,  as  to  all  races,  by 
beginning  at  the  bottom  and  gradually 
working  up  to  the  highest  possibilities 
of  his  nature. 

In  the  economy  of  God  there  is  but 
one  standard  by  which  an  individual 
can  succeed:  there  is  but  one  for  a 

197 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

race.  This  country  expects  that  every 
race  shall  measure  itself  by  the  Amer- 
ican  standard.  During  the  next  half- 
century,  and  more,  the  Negro  must 
continue  passing  through  the  severe 
American  crucible.  He  is  to  be  tested 
in  his  patience,  his  forbearance,  his  per 
severance,  his  power  to  endure  wrong, 
— to  withstand  temptations,  to  econo 
mise,  to  acquire  and  use  skill, —  his  abil 
ity  to  compete,  to  succeed  in  com 
merce,  to  disregard  the  superficial  for 
the  real,  the  appearance  for  the  sub 
stance,  to  be  great  and  yet  small, 
learned  and  yet  simple,  high  and  yet 
the  servant  of  all.  This, —  this  is  the 
passport  to  all  that  is  best  in  the  life 
of  our  Republic;  and  the  Negro  must 
possess  it  or  be  barred  out. 

In  working  out  his  own  destiny,  while 
the  main  burden  of  activity  must  be  with 
the  Negro,  he  will  need  in  the  years  to 
come,  as  he  has  needed  in  the  past,  the 
help,  the  encouragement,  the  guidance, 

198 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

that  the  strong  can  give  the  weak. 
Thus  helped,  those  of  both  races  in 
the  South  will  soon  throw  off  the 
shackles  of  racial  and  sectional  preju 
dice,  and  rise  above  the  clouds  of  igno 
rance,  narrowness,  and  selfishness  into 
that  atmosphere,  that  pure  sunshine, 
where  it  will  be  the  highest  ambition  to 
serve  man,  our  brother,  regardless  of 
race  or  previous  condition. 


199 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

BEFORE  ending  this  volume,  I  have 
deemed  it  wise  and  fitting  to  sum  up  in 
the  following  chapter  all  that  I  have  at- 
tempted  to  say  in  the  previous  chapters, 
and  to  speak  at  the  same  time  a  little 
more  definitely  about  the  Negro's  future 
and  his  relation  to  the  white  race. 

All  attempts  to  settle  the  question  of 
the  Negro  in  the  South  by  his  removal 
from  this  country  have  so  far  failed, 
and  I  think  that  they  are  likely  to  fail. 
The  next  census  will  probably  show  that 
we  have  about  ten  millions  of  Negroes 
in  the  United  States.  About  eight  mill. 
ions  of  these  are  in  the  Southern  States. 
We  have  almost  a  nation  within  a  na 
tion.  The  Negro  population  within  the 
United  States  lacks  but  two  millions  of 
being  as  large  as  the  whole  population 
of  Mexico.  It  is  nearly  twice  as  large 
as  the  population  of  the  Dominion  of 
Canada.  It  is  equal  to  the  combined 

200 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

population  of  Switzerland,  Greece,  Hon 
duras,  Nicaragua,  Cuba,  Uruguay,  Santo 
Domingo,  Paraguay,  and  Costa  Rica. 
When  we  consider,  in  connection  with 
these  facts,  that  the  race  has  doubled 
itself  since  its  freedom,  and  is  still  in 
creasing,  it  hardly  seems  possible  for  any 
one  to  consider  seriously  any  scheme  of 
emigration  from  America  as  a  method 
of  solution  of  our  vexed  race  problem. 
At  most,  even  if  the  government  were 
to  provide  the  means,  but  a  few  hundred 
thousand  could  be  transported  each  year. 
The  yearly  increase  in  population  would 
more  than  overbalance  the  number  trans 
planted.  Even  if  it  did  not,  the  time  re 
quired  to  get  rid  of  the  Negro  by  this 
method  would  perhaps  be  fifty  or  seventy- 
five  years.  The  idea  is  chimerical. 

Some  have  advised  that  the  Negro 
leave  the  South  and  take  up  his  resi 
dence  in  the  Northern  States.  I  ques 
tion  whether  this  would  leave  him  any 
better  off  than  he  is  in  the  South,  when 

201 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

all  things  are  considered.  It  has  been 
my  privilege  to  study  the  condition  of 
our  people  in  nearly  every  part  of 
America;  and  I  say,  without  hesitation, 
that,  with  some  exceptional  cases,  the 
Negro  is  at  his  best  in  the  Southern 
States.  While  he  enjoys  certain  privi 
leges  in  the  North  that  he  does  not  have 
in  the  South,  when  it  comes  to  the 
matter  of  securing  property,  enjoying 
business  opportunities  and  employment, 
the  South  presents  a  far  better  opportu 
nity  than  the  North.  Few  coloured 
men  from  the  South  are  as  yet  abte  to 
stand  up  against  the  severe  and  increas 
ing  competition  that  exists  in  the  North, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  unfriendly  influ 
ence  of  labour  organisations,  which  in 
some  way  prevents  black  men  in  the 
North,  as  a  rule,  from  securing  employ 
ment  in  skilled  labour  occupations. 

Another  point  of  great  danger  for  the 
coloured  man  who  goes  North  is  in  the 
matter  of  morals,  owing  to  the  numerous 

202 


The   Future  of  the  American  Negro 

temptations  by  which  he  finds  himself 
surrounded.  He  has  more  ways  in 
which  he  can  spend  money  than  in  the 
South,  but  fewer  avenues  of  employ 
ment  are  open  to  him.  The  fact  that  at 
the  North  the  Negro  is  confined  to  al 
most  one  line  of  employment  often  tends 
to  discourage  and  demoralise  the  strong- 
e**  who  go  from  the  South,  and  to  make 
them  an  easy  prey  to  temptation.  A 
few  years  ago  I  made  an  examination 
into  the  condition  of  a  settlement  of 
Negroes  who  left  the  South  and  went 
to  Kansas  about  twenty  years  ago, 
when  there  was  a  good  deal  of  excite 
ment  in  the  South  concerning  emigra 
tion  to  the  West.  This  settlement,  I 
found,  was  much  below  the  standard  of 
that  of  a  similar  number  of  our  people 
in  the  South.  The  only  conclusion, 
therefore,  it  seems  to  me,  which  any  one 
can  reach,  is  that  the  Negroes,  as  a 
mass,  are  to  remain  in  the  Southern 
States.  As  a  race,  they  do  not  want  to 

203 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

leave  the  South,  and  the  Southern  white 
people  do  not  want  them  to  leave.  We 
must  therefore  find  some  basis  of  set- 
tlement  that  will  be  constitutional,  just, 
manly,  that  will  be  fair  to  both  races  in 
the  South  and  to  the  whole  country. 
This  cannot  be  done  in  a  day,  a  year,  or 
any  short  period  of  time.  We  can,  it 
seems  to  me,  with  the  present  light,  de 
cide  upon  a  reasonably  safe  method 
of  solving  the  problem,  and  turn  our 
strength  and  effort  in  that  direction. 
In  doing  this,  I  would  not  have  the 
Negro  deprived  of  any  privilege  guaran 
teed  to  him  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  .  It  is  not  best  for  the 
Negro  that  he  relinquish  any  of  his 
constitutional  rights.  It  is  not  best  for 
the  Southern  white  man  that  he  should. 
In  order  that  we  may,  without  loss  of 
time  or  effort,  concentrate  our  forces  in 
a  wise  direction,  I  suggest  what  seems 
to  me  and  many  others  the  wisest  policy 
to  be  pursued.  I  have  reached  these 

204 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

conclusions  by  reason  of  my  own  obser 
vations  and  experience,  after  eighteen 
years  of  direct  contact  with  the  leading 
and  influential  coloured  and  white  men 
in  most  parts  of  our  country.  But  I 
wish  first  to  mention  some  elements  of 
danger  in  the  present  situation,  which 
all  who  desire  the  permanent  welfare  of 
both  races  in  the  South  should  care 
fully  consider. 

First. —  There  is  danger  that  a  cer 
tain  class  of  impatient  extremists  among 
the  Negroes,  who  have  little  knowledge 
of  the  actual  conditions  in  the  South, 
may  do  the  entire  race  injury  by  at 
tempting  to  advise  their  brethren  in  the 
South  to  resort  to  armed  resistance  or 
the  use  of  the  torch,  in  order  to  secure 
justice.  All  intelligent  and  well-consid 
ered  discussion  of  any  important  ques 
tion  or  condemnation  of  any  wrong,  both 
in  the  North  and  the  South,  from  the 
public  platform  and  through  the  press, 
is  to  be  commended  and  encouraged; 

205 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

but  ill-considered,  incendiary  utterances 
from  black  men  in  the  North  will  tend 
to  add  to  the  burdens  of  our  people  in 
the  South  rather  than  relieve  them. 

Second.  —  Another  danger  in  the 
South,  which  should  be  guarded  against, 
is  that  the  whole  white  South,  including 
the  wide,  conservative,  law-abiding  ele 
ment,  may  find  itself  represented  before 
the  bar  of  public  opinion  by  the  mob,  or 
lawless  element,  which  gives  expression 
to  its  feelings  and  tendency  in  a  manner 
that  advertises  the  South  throughout 
the  world.  Too  often  those  who  have 
no  sympathy  with  such  disregard  of  law 
are  either  silent  or  fail  to  speak  in  a 
sufficiently  emphatic  manner  to  offset 
in  any  large  degree,  the  unfortunate 
reputation  which  the  lawless  have  too 
often  made  for  many  portions  of  the 
South. 

Third. —  No  race  or  people  ever  got 
upon  its  feet  without  severe  and  con 
stant  struggle,  often  in  the  face  of  the 

206 


The   Future  of  the  American  Negro 

greatest  discouragement.  While  pass 
ing  through  the  present  trying  period 
of  its  history,  there  is  danger  that  a 
large  and  valuable  element  of  the  Negro 
race  may  become  discouraged  in  the  ef 
fort  to  better  its  condition.  Every  pos 
sible  influence  should  be  exerted  to  pre 
vent  this. 

Fourth. —  There  is  a  possibility  that 
harm  may  be  done  to  the  South  and  to 
the  Negro  by  exaggerated  newspaper 
articles  which  are  written  near  the  scene 
or  in  the  midst  of  specially  aggravating 
occurrences.  Often  these  reports  are 
written  by  newspaper  men,  who  give  the 
impression  that  there  is  a  race  conflict 
throughout  the  South,  and  that  all  South 
ern  white  people  are  opposed  to  the 
Negro's  progress,  overlooking  the  fact 
that,  while  in  some  sections  there  is 
trouble,  in  most  parts  of  the  South  there 
is,  nevertheless,  a  very  large  measure  of 
peace,  good  will,  and  mutual  helpfulness. 
In  this  same  relation  much  can  be  done 

207 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

to  retard  the  progress  of  the  Negro  by 
a  certain  class  of  Southern  white  people, 
who,  in  the  midst  of  excitement,  speak 
or  write  in  a  manner  that  gives  the  im 
pression  that  all  Negroes  are  lawless, 
untrustworthy,  and  shiftless.  As  an  ex- 
ample,  a  Southern  writer  said  not  long 
ago,  in  a  communication  to  the  New 
York  Independent:  "  Even  in  small  towns 
the  husband  cannot  venture  to  leave  his 
wife  alone  for  an  hour  at  night.  At  no 
time,  in  no  place,  is  the  white  woman 
safe  from  insults  and  assaults  of  these 
creatures."  These  statements,  I  pre 
sume,  represented  the  feelings  and  the 
conditions  that  existed  at  the  time  they 
were  written  in  one  community  or 
county  in  the  South.  But  thousands  of 
Southern  white  men  and  women  would 
be  ready  to  testify  that  this  is  not  the 
condition  throughout  the  South,  nor 
throughout  any  one  State. 

Fifth. —  Under  the  next  head  I  would 
mention  that,  owing  to  the  lack  of  school 

208 


The   Future  of  the  American   Negro 

opportunities  for  the  Negro  in  the  rural 
districts  of  the  South,  there  is  danger 
that  ignorance  and  idleness  may  in 
crease  to  the  extent  of  giving  the  Negro 
race  a  reputation  for  crime,  and  that 
immorality  may  eat  its  way  into  the 
moral  fibre  of  the  race,  so  as  to  retard 
its  progress  for  many  years.  In  judging 
the  Negro  in  this  regard,  we  must  not 
be  too  harsh.  We  must  remember  that 
it  has  only  been  within  the  last  thirty- 
four  years  that  the  black  father  and 
mother  have  had  the  responsibility,  and 
consequently  the  experience,  of  training 
their  own  children.  That  they  have 
not  reached  perfection  in  one  genera 
tion,  with  the  obstacles  that  the  parents 
have  been  compelled  to  overcome,  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at 

Sixth. —  As  a  final  source  of  danger 
to  be  guarded  against,  I  would  mention 
my  fear  that  some  of  the  white  people 
of  the  South  may  be  led  to  feel  that  the 
way  to  settle  the  race  problem  is  to 

209 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

repress  the  aspirations  of  the  Negro  by 
legislation  of  a  kind  that  confers  certain 
legal  or  political  privileges  upon  an 
ignorant  and  poor  white  man  and  with 
holds  the  same  privileges  from  a  black 
man  in  the  same  condition.  Such 
legislation  injures  and  retards  the  prog 
ress  of  both  races.  It  is  an  injustice  to 
the  poor  white  man,  because  it  takes 
from  him  incentive  to  secure  education 
and  property  as  prerequisites  for  voting. 
He  feels  that,  because  he  is  a  white 
man,  regardless  of  his  possessions,  a 
way  will  be  found  for  him  to  vote.  I 
would  label  all  such  measures,  "  Laws 
to  keep  the  poor  white  man  in  igno 
rance  and  poverty." 

As  the  Talladega  News  Reporter^ 
a  Democratic  newspaper  of  Alabama, 
recently  said :  "  But  it  is  a  weak  cry 
when  the  white  man  asks  odds  on  intel 
ligence  over  the  Negro.  When  nature 
has  already  so  handicapped  the  African 
in  the  race  for  knowledge,  the  cry  of  the 

210 


The   Future  of  the  American   Negro 

boasted  Anglo-Saxon  for  still  further 
.odds  seems  babyish.  What  wonder  that 
the  world  looks  on  in  surprise,  if  not 
disgust  It  cannot  help  but  say,  if  our 
contention  be  true  that  the  Negro  is  an 
inferior  race,  that  the  odds  ought  to  be 
on  the  other  side,  if  any  are  to  be  given. 
And  why  not?  No,  the  thing  to  do  — 
the  only  thing  that  will  stand  the  test 
of  time  —  is  to  do  right,  exactly  right, 
let  come  what  will.  And  that  right 
thing,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is  to  place 
a  fair  educational  qualification  before 
every  citizen, —  one  that  is  self-testing, 
and  not  dependent  on  the  wishes  of 
weak  men,  letting  all  who  pass  the  test 
stand  in  the  proud  ranks  of  American 
voters,  whose  votes  shall  be  counted  as 
cast,  and  whose  sovereign  will  shall  be 
maintained  as  law  by  all  the  powers 
that  be.  Nothing  short  of  this  will 
do.  Every  exemption,  on  whatsoever 
ground,  is  an  outrage  that  can  only  rob 
some  legitimate  voter  of  his  rights." 

211 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Such  laws  as  have  been  made  —  as  an 
example,  in  Mississippi  —  with  the  "un 
derstanding  "  clause  hold  out  a  tempta 
tion  for  the  election  officer  to  perjure 
and  degrade  himself  by  too  often  decid 
ing  that  the  ignorant  white  man  does 
understand  the  Constitution  when  it  .is 
read  to  him  and  that  the  ignorant  black 
man  does  not.  By  such  a  law  the  State 
not  only  commits  a  wrong  against  its 
black  citizens;  it  injures  the  morals  of 
its  white  citizens  by  conferring  such  a 
power  upon  any  white  man  who  may 
happen  to  be  a  judge  of  elections. 

Such  laws  are  hurtful,  again,  because 
they  keep  alive  in  the  heart  of  the  black 
man  the  feeling  that  the  white  man 
means  to  oppress  him.  The  only  safe 
way  out  is  to  set  a  high  standard  as  a 
test  of  citizenship,  and  require  blacks 
and  whites  alike  to  come  up  to  it. 
When  this  is  done,  both  will  have  a 
higher  respect  for  the  election  laws  and 
those  who  make  them.  I  do  not  believe 


2  12 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

that,  with  his  centuries  of  advantage 
over  the  Negro  in  the  opportunity  to 
acquire  property  and  education  as  pre 
requisites  for  voting,  the  average  white 
man  in  the  South  desires  that  any 
special  law  bt  passed  to  give  him  ad 
vantage  over  the  Negro,  who  has  had 
only  a  little  more  than  thirty  years  in 
which  to  prepare  himself  for  citizenship. 
In  this  relation  another  point  of  danger 
is  that  the  Negro  has  been  made  to  feel 
that  it  is  his  duty  to  oppose  continually 
the  Southern  white  man  in  politics,  even 
in  matters  where  no  principle  is  involved, 
and  that  he  is  only  loyal  to  his  own  race 
and  acting  in  a  manly  way  when  he  is 
opposing  him.  Such  a  policy  has  proved 
most  hurtful  to  both  races.  Where  it 
is  a  matter  of  principle,  where  a  ques 
tion  of  right  or  wrong  is  involved,  I 
would  advise  the  Negro  to  stand  by 
principle  at  all  hazards.  A  Southern 
white  man  has  no  respect  for  or  con 
fidence  in  a  Negro  who  acts  merely  for 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

policy's  sake ;  but  there  are  many  cases 

—  and  the  number  is  growing  —  where 
the    Negro   has    nothing   to  gain   and 
much  to  lose  by  opposing  the  Southern 
white  man  in  many  matters  that  relate 
to  government. 

Under  these  six  heads  I  believe  I 
have  stated  some  of  the  main  points 
which  all  high-minded  white  men  and 
black  men,  North  and  South,  will  agree 
need  our  most  earnest  and  thoughtful 
consideration,  if  we  would  hasten,  and 
not  hinder,  the  progress  of  our  country. 

As  to  the  policy  that  should  be  pur- 
sued  in  a  larger  sense, —  on  this  subject 
I  claim  to  possess  no  superior  wisdom 
or  unusual  insight.  I  may  be  wrong ; 
I  may  be  in  some  degree  right  • 

In  the  future,  more  than  in  the  past, 
we  want  to  impress  upon  the  Negro  the 
importance  of  identifying  himself  more 
closely  with  the  interests  of  the  South, 

—  the   importance   of    making   himself 
part  of  the  South  and  at  home  in  it. 

214 


The   Future  of  the  American   Negro 

Heretofore,  for  reasons  which  were 
natural  and  for  which  no  one  is  espe 
cially  to  blame,  the  coloured  people  have 
been  too  much  like  a  foreign  nation 
residing  in  the  midst  of  another  nation. 
If  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Wendell 
Phillips,  and  George  L.  Stearns  were 
alive  to-day,  I  feel  sure  that  each  one 
of  them  would  advise  the  Negroes  to 
identify  their  interests  as  far  as  possible 
with  those  of  the  Southern  white  man, 
always  with  the  understanding  that  this 
should  be  done  where  no  question  of 
right  and  wrong  is  involved.  In  no 
other  way,  it  seems  to  me,  can  we  get  a 
foundation  for  peace  and  progress.  He 
who  advises  against  this  policy  will  ad 
vise  the  Negro  to  do  that  which  no  peo 
ple  in  history  who  have  succeeded  have 
done.  The  white  man,  North  or  South, 
who  advises  the  Negro  against  it  ad 
vises  him  to  do  that  which  he  himself 
has  not  done.  The  bed-rock  upon 
which  every  individual  rests  his  chances 

215 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

of  success  in  life  is  securing  the  friend 
ship,  the  confidence,  the  respect,  of  his 
next-door  neighbour  of  the  little  com- 
munity  in  which  he  lives.  Almost  the 
whole  problem  of  the  Negro  in  the 
South  rests  itself  upon  the  fact  as  to 
whether  the  Negro  can  make  himself  of 
such  indispensable  service  to  his  neigh- 
bour  and  the  community  that  no  one  can 
fill  his  place  better  in  the  body  politic. 
There  is  at  present  no  other  safe  course 
for  the  black  man  to  pursue.  If  the 
Negro  in  the  South  has  a  friend  in  his 
white  neighbour  and  a  still  larger  num 
ber  of  friends  in  his  community,  he  has 
a  protection  and  a  guarantee  of  his 
rights  that  will  be  more  potent  and 
more  lasting  than  any  our  Federal  Con 
gress  or  any  outside  power  can  confer. 

In  a  recent  editorial  the  London 
Times,  in  discussing  affairs  in  the  Trans 
vaal,  South  Africa,  where  Englishmen 
have  been  denied  certain  privileges  by 
the  Boers,  says :  "  England  is  too  saga- 

216 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

cious  not  to  prefer  a  gradual  reform 
from  within,  even  should  it  be  less 
rapid  than  most  of  us  might  wish,  to 
the  most  sweeping  redress  of  grievances 
imposed  from  without.  Our  object  is  to 
obtain  fair  play  for  the  outlanders,  but 
the  best  way  to  do  it  is  to  enable  them 
to  help  themselves."  This  policy,  I 
think,  is  equally  safe  when  applied  to 
conditions  in  the  South.  The  foreigner 
who  comes  to  America,  as  soon  as  pos 
sible,  identifies  himself,  in  business,  edu 
cation,  politics,  and  sympathy  with  the 
community  in  which  he  settles.  As  I 
nave  said,  we  have  a  conspicuous  ex 
ample  of  this  in  the  case  of  the  Jews. 
Also,  the  Negro  in  Cuba  has  practically 
settled  the  race  question  there,  because 
he  has  made  himself  a  part  of  Cuba  in 
thought  and  action. 

What  I  have  tried  to  indicate  cannot 
be  accomplished  by  any  sudden  revolu 
tion  of  methods,  but  it  does  seem  that 
the  tendency  more  and  more  should  be 

217 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

in  this  direction.  If  a  practical  example 
is  wanted  in  the  direction  that  I  favour, 
I  will  mention  one.  The  North  sends 
thousands  of  dollars  into  the  South  each 
year,  for  the  education  of  the  Negro. 
The  teachers  in  most  of  the  academic 
schools  of  the  South  are  supported  by 
the  North,  or  Northern  men  and  women 
of  the  highest  Christian  culture  and  most 
unselfish  devotion.  The  Negro  owes 
them  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  can  never 
be  paid.  The  various  missionary  socie 
ties  in  the  North  have  done  a  work 
which,  in  a  large  degree,  has  been  the 
salvation  of  the  South;  and  the  result 
will  appear  in  future  generations  more 
than  in  this.  We  have  now  reached  the 
point  in  the  South  where,  I  believe,  great 
good  could  be  accomplished  by  changing 
the  attitude  of  the  white  people  toward 
the  Negro  and  of  the  Negro  toward  the 
whites,  if  a  few  white  teachers  of  high 
character  would  take  an  active  interest 
in  the  work  of  these  high  schools.  Can 

218 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

this  be  done  ?  Yes.  The  medical  school 
connected  with  Shaw  University  at 
Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  has  from  the 
first  had  as  instructors  and  professors, 
almost  exclusively,  Southern  white  doc 
tors,  who  reside  in  Raleigh;  and  they 
have  given  the  highest  satisfaction. 
This  gives  the  people  of  Raleigh  the 
feeling  that  this  is  their  school,  and  not 
something  located  in,  but  not  a  part  of, 
the  South.  In  Augusta,  Georgia,  the 
Payne  Institute,  one  of  the  best  colleges 
for  our  people,  is  officered  and  taught 
almost  wholly  by  Southern  white  men 
and  women.  The  Presbyterian  Theo 
logical  School  at  Tuscaloosa,  Alabama, 
has  all  Southern  white  men  as  instruc 
tors.  Some  time  ago,  at  the  Calhoun 
School  in  Alabama,  one  of  the  leading 
white  men  in  the  county  was  given  an 
important  position  in  the  school.  Since 
then  the  feeling  of  the  white  people  in 
the  county  has  greatly  changed  toward 
the  school. 

219 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

(We  must  admit  the  stern  fact  that  at 
present  the  Negro,  through  no  choice 
of  his  own,  is  living  among  another  race 
which  is  far  ahead  of  him  in  education, 
property,  experience,  and  favourable  con 
dition;  further,  that  the  Negro's  pres 
ent  condition  makes  him  dependent 
upon  the  white  people  for  most  of  the 
things  necessary  to  sustain  life,  as  well 
as  for  his  common  school  education. 
In  all  history,  those  who  have  possessed 
the  property  and  intelligence  have  exer 
cised  the  greatest  control  in  govern 
ment,  regardless  of  colour,  race,  or  geo 
graphical  location.  This  being  the  case, 
how  can  the  black  man  in  the  South  im 
prove  his  present  condition  ?  And  does 
the  Southern  white  man  want  him  to 
improve  it? 

The  Negro  in  the  South  has  it  within 
his  power,  if  he  properly  utilises  the 
forces  at  hand,  to  make  of  himself  such 
a  valuable  factor  in  the  life  of  the  South 
that  he  will  not  have  to  seek  privileges, 

220 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

they  will  be  freely  conferred  upon  him. 
To  bring  this  about,  the  Negro  must 
begin  at  the  bottom  and  lay  a  sure 
foundation,  and  not  be  lured  by  any 
temptation  into  trying  to  rise  on  a  false 
foundation.  While  the  Negro  is  laying 
this  foundation  he  will  need  help,  sym 
pathy,  and  simple  justice.  Progress  by 
any  other  method  will  be  but  tempo 
rary  and  superficial,  and  the  latter  end 
of  it  will  be  worse  than  the  beginning. 
American  slavery  was  a  great  curse 
to  both  races,  and  I  would  be  the  last 
to  apologise  for  it ;  but,  in  the  presence 
of  God,  I  believe  that  slavery  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  solution  of  the  prob 
lem  that  is  now  before  us  in  the  South. 
During  slavery  the  Negro  was  taught 
every  trade,  every  industry  that  consti 
tutes  the  foundation  for  making  a  living. 
Now,  if  on  this  foundation  —  laid  in 
rather  a  crude  way,  it  is  true,  but  a 
foundation,  nevertheless — we  can  grad 
ually  build  and  improve,  the  future  for 

221 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

us  is  bright.  Let  me  be  more  specific. 
Agriculture  is,  or  has  been,  the  basic 
industry  of  nearly  every  race  or  nation 
that  has  succeeded.  The  Negro  got 
a  knowledge  of  this  during  slavery. 
Hence,  in  a  large  measure,  he  is  in 
possession  of  this  industry  in  the  South 
to-day.  The  Negro  can  buy  land  in 
the  South,  as  a  rule,  wherever  the  white 
man  can  buy  it,  and  at  very  low 
prices.  Now,  since  the  bulk  of  our 
people  already  have  a  foundation  in  ag 
riculture,  they  are  at  their  best  when 
living  in  the  country,  engaged  in  agri 
cultural  pursuits.  Plainly,  then,  the  best 
thing,  the  logical  thing,  is  to  turn  the 
larger  part  of  our  strength  in  a  direc 
tion  that  will  make  the  Negro  among 
the  most  skilled  agricultural  people  in 
the  world.  The  man  who  has  learned 
to  do  something  better  than  any  one 
else,  has  learned  to  do  a  common  thing 
in  an  uncommon  manner,  is  the  man 
who  has  a  power  and  influence  that  no 

222 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

adverse  circumstances  can  take  from  him. 
The  Negro  who  can  make  himself  so 
conspicuous  as  a  successful  farmer,  a 
large  tax-payer,  a  wise  helper  of  his  fel 
low-men,  as  to  be  placed  in  a  position  of 
trust  and  honour,  whether  the  position 
be  political  or  otherwise,  by  natural  se 
lection,  is  a  hundred-fold  more  secure  in 
that  position  than  one  placed  there  by 
mere  outside  force  or  pressure.  I  know 
a  Negro,  Hon.  Isaiah  T.  Montgomery, 
in  Mississippi,  who  is  mayor  of  a 
town.  It  is  true  that  this  town,  at 
present,  is  composed  almost  wholly  of 
Negroes.  Mr.  Montgomery  is  mayor  of 
this  town  because  his  genius,  thrift,  and 
foresight  have  created  the  town  ;  and  he 
is  held  and  supported  in  his  office  by  a 
charter,  granted  by  the  State  of  Missis 
sippi,  and  by  the  vote  and  public  senti 
ment  of  the  community  in  which  he 
lives. 

Let   us   help    the    Negro    by   every 
means  possible  to  acquire  such  an  edu- 

223 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

cation  in  farming,  dairying,  stock-rais 
ing,  horticulture,  etc.,  as  will  enable  him 
to  become  a  model  in  these  respects 
and  place  him  near  the  top  in  these  in 
dustries,  and  the  race  problem  would 
in  a  large  part  be  settled,  or  at  least 
stripped  of  many  of  its  most  perplexing 
elements.  This  policy  would  also  tend 
to  keep  the  Negro  in  the  country  and 
smaller  towns,  wfhere  he  succeeds  best, 
and  stop  the  influx  into  the  large  cities, 
where  he  does  not  succeed  so  well. 
The  race,  like  the  individual,  that  pro 
duces  something  of  superior  worth  that 
has  a  common  human  interest,  makes  a 
permanent  place  for  itself,  and  is  bound 
to  be  recognised. 

At  a  county  fair  in  the  South  not 
long  ago  I  saw  a  Negro  awarded  the 
first  prize  by  a  jury  of  white  men,  over 
white  competitors,  for  the  production 
of  the  best  specimen  of  Indian  corn. 
Every  white  man  at  this  fair  seemed  to 
be  pleased  and  proud  of  the  achieve- 

224 


The   Future  of  the  American  Negro 

ment  of  this  Negro,  because  it  was  ap 
parent  that  he  had  done  something  that 
would  add  to  the  wealth  and  comfort  of 
the  people  of  both  races  in  that  county. 
At  the  Tuskegee  Normal  and  Indus 
trial  Institute  in  Alabama  we  have  a 
department  devoted  to  training  men 
in  the  science  of  agriculture;  but  what 
we  are  doing  is  small  when  compared 
with  what  should  be  done  at  Tuskegee 
and  at  other  educational  centres.  In  a 
material  sense  the  South  is  still  an  un 
developed  country.  While  race  preju 
dice  is  strongly  exhibited  in  many  di 
rections,  in  the  matter  of  business,  of 
commercial  and  industrial  development, 
there  is  very  little  obstacle  in  the 
Negro's  way.  A  Negro  who  produces 
or  has  for  sale  something  that  the  com 
munity  wants  finds  customers  among 
white  people  as  well  as  black  people. 
A  Negro  can  borrow  money  at  the  bank 
with  equal  security  as  readily  as  a  white 
man  can.  A  bank  in  Birmingham, 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Alabama,  that  has  now  existed  ten 
years,  is  officered  and  controlled  wholly 
by  Negroes.  This  bank  has  white  bor 
rowers  and  white  depositors.  A  gradu 
ate  of  the  Tuskegee  Institute  keeps  a 
well-appointed  grocery  store  in  Tuske 
gee,  and  he  tells  me  that  he  sells  about 
as  many  goods  to  the  one  race  as  to  the 
other.  What  I  have  said  of  the  open 
ing  that  awaits  the  Negro  in  the  direc 
tion  of  agriculture  is  almost  equally 
true  of  mechanics,  manufacturing,  and 
all  the  domestic  arts.  The  field  is  be-  ' 
fore  him  and  right  about  him.  Will  he 
occupy  it?  Will  he  "cast  down  his 
bucket  where  he  is  "  ?  Will  his  friends 
North  and  South  encourage  him  and 
prepare  him  to  occupy  it  ?  Every  city 
in  the  South,  for  example,  would  give 
support  to  a  first-class  architect  or 
house-builder  or  contractor  of  our  race. 
The  architect  and  contractor  would  not 
only  receive  support,  but,  through  his 
example,  numbers  of  young  coloured 

226 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

men  would  learn  such  trades  as  carpen 
try,  brick-masonry,  plastering,  painting, 
etc.,  and  the  race  would  be  put  into  a 
position  to  hold  on  to  many  of  the  in 
dustries  which  it  is  now  in  danger  of 
losing,  because  in  too  many  cases  brains, 
skill,  and  dignity  are  not  imparted  to 
the  common  occupations  of  life  that  are 
about  his  very  door.  Any  individual 
or  race  that  does  not  fit  itself  to  occupy 
in  the  best  manner  the  field  or  service 
that  is  right  about  it  will  sooner  or  later 
be  asked  to  move  on,  and  let  some  one 
else  occupy  it. 

But  it  is  asked,  Would  you  confine 
the  Negro  to  agriculture,  mechanics, 
and  domestic  arts,  etc.  ?  Not  at  all ;  but 
along  the  lines  that  I  have  mentioned 
is  where  the  stress  should  be  laid  just 
now  and  for  many  years  to  come.  We 
will  need  and  must  have  many  teachers 
and  ministers,  some  doctors  and  lawyers 
and  statesmen;  but  these  professional 
men  will  have  a  constituency  or  a  foun- 

227 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

dation  from  which  to  draw  support  just 
in  proportion  as  the  race  prospers  along 
the  economic  lines  that  I  have  men 
tioned.  During  the  first  fifty  or  one 
hundred  years  of  the  life  of  any  people 
are  not  the  economic  occupations  al 
ways  given  the  greater  attention  ?  This 
is  not  only  the  historic,  but,  I  think,  the 
common-sense  view.  If  this  generation 
will  lay  the  material  foundation,  it  will 
be  the  quickest  and  surest  way  for  the 
succeeding  generation  to  succeed  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  fine  arts,  and  to  sur 
round  itself  even  with  some  of  the 
luxuries  of  life,  if  desired.  What  the 
race  now  most  needs,  in  my  opinion,  is 
a  whole  army  of  men  and  women  well 
trained  to  lead  and  at  the  same  time 
infuse  themselves  into  agriculture,  me 
chanics,  domestic  employment,  and 
business.  As  to  the  mental  training 
that  these  educated  leaders  should  be 
equipped  with,  I  should  say,  Give  them 
all  the  mental  training  and  culture  that 

228 


The   Future  of  the  American  Negro 

the  circumstances  of  individuals  will 
allow, —  the  more,  the  better.  No  race 
can  permanently  succeed  until  its  mind 
is  awakened  and  strengthened  by  the 
ripest  thought.  But  I  would  constantly 
have  it  kept  in  the  thoughts  of  those 
who  are  educated  in  books  that  a  large 
proportion  of  those  who  are  educated 
should  be  so  trained  in  hand  that  they 
can  bring  this  mental  strength  and 
knowledge  to  bear  upon  the  physical 
conditions  in  the  South  which  I  have 
tried  to  emphasise. 

Frederick  Douglass,  of  sainted  mem 
ory,  once,  in  addressing  his  race,  used 
these  words :  "  We  are  to  prove  that  we 
can  better  our  own  condition.  One 
way  to  do  this  is  to  accumulate  prop 
erty.  This  may  sound  to  you  like  a 
new  gospel.  You  have  been  accus 
tomed  to  hear  that  money  is  the  root 
of  all  evil,  etc.  On  the  other  hand, 
property  —  money,  if  you  please  —  will 
purchase  for  us  the  only  condition  by 

229 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

which  any  people  can  rise  to  the  dignity 
of  genuine  manhood ;  for  without  prop 
erty  there  can  be  no  leisure,  without 
leisure  there  can  be  no  thought,  without 
thought  there  can  be  no  invention, 
without  invention  there  can  be  no 
progress/' 

The  Negro  should  be  taught  that 
material  development  is  not  an  end, 
but  simply  a  means  to  an  end.  As 
Professor  W.  E.  B.  DuBois  puts  it, 
44  The  idea  should  not  be  simply  to  make 
men  carpenters,  but  to  make  carpenters 
men."  The  Negro  has  a  highly  relig 
ious  temperament;  but  what  he  needs 
more  and  more  is  to  be  convinced  of 
the  importance  of  weaving  his  religion 
and  morality  into  the  practical  affairs 
of  daily  life.  Equally  as  much  does  he 
need  to  be  taught  to  put  so  much  intel 
ligence  into  his  labour  that  he  will  see 
dignity  and  beauty  in  the  occupation, 
and  love  it  for  its  own  sake.  The  Ne 
gro  needs  to  be  taught  that  more  of  the 

23° 


The   Future  of  the  American   Negro 

religion  that  manifests  itself  in  his  hap 
piness  in  the  prayer-meeting  should  be 
made  practical  in  the  performance  of 
his  daily  task.  The  man  who  owns  a 
home  and  is  in  the  possession  of  the 
elements  by  which  he  is  sure  of  making 
a  daily  living  has  a  great  aid  to  a  moral 
and  religious  life.  What  bearing  will 
all  this  have  upon  the  Negro's  place 
in  the  South  as  a  citizen  and  in  the 
enjoyment  of  the  privileges  which  our 
government  confers? 

(To  state  in  detail  just  what  place  the 
black  man  will  occupy  in  the  South  as 
a  citizen,  when  he  has  developed  in  the 
direction  named,  is  beyond  the  wisdom 
of  any  one.  Much  will  depend  upon 
the  sense  of  justice  which  can  be  kept 
alive  in  the  breast  of  the  American  peo 
ple.  Almost  as  much  will  depend  upon 
the  good  sense  of  the  Negro  himself. 
That  question,  I  confess,  does  not  give 
me  the  most  concern  just  now.  The 
important  and  pressing  question  is,  Will 

231 


?  Cl  "M  r.V;   •; .. 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

the  Negro  with  his  own  help  and  that 
of  his  friends  take  advantage  of  the  op 
portunities  that  now  surround  him? 
When  he  has  done  this,  I  believe  that, 
speaking  of  his  future  in  general  terms, 
he  will  be  treated  with  justice,  will  be 
given  the  protection  of  the  law,  and  will 
be  given  the  recognition  in  a  largo 
measure  which  his  usefulness  and  ability 
warrant.  If,  fifty  years  ago,  any  one  had 
predicted  that  the  Negro  would  have 
received  the  recognition  and  honour 
which  individuals  have  already  received, 
he  would  have  been  laughed  at  as  an 
idle  dreamer.  Time,  patience,  and  con 
stant  achievement  are  great  factors  in 
the  rise  of  a  race. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  world  ever 
takes  a  race  seriously,  in  its  desire  to 
enter  into  the  control  of  the  govern 
ment  of  a  nation  in  any  large  degree, 
until  a  large  number  of  individuals, 
members  of  that  race,  have  demon 
strated,  beyond  question,  their  ability  to 

232 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

control  and  develop  individual  business 
enterprises.  When  a  number  of  Negroes 
rise  to  the  point  where  they  own  and 
operate  the  most  successful  farms,  are 
among  the  largest  tax-payers  in  their 
county,  are  moral  and  intelligent,  I  do 
not  believe  that  in  many  portions  of  the 
South  such  men  need  long  be  denied 
the  right  of  saying  by  their  votes  how 
they  prefer  their  property  to  be  taxed 
and  in  choosing  those  who  are  to  make 
and  administer  the  laws. 

In  a  certain  town  in  the  South,  re 
cently,  I  was  on  the  street  in  company 
with  the  most  prominent  Negro  in  the 
town.  While  we  were  together,  the 
mayor  of  the  town  sought  out  the  black 
man,  and  said, "  Next  week  we  are  going 
to  vote  on  the  question  of  issuing  bonds 
to  secure  water-works  for  this  town  ;  you 
must  be  sure  to  vote  on  the  day  of  elec 
tion."  The  mayor  did  not  suggest 
whether  he  must  vote  "  yes  "  or  "  no"  ; 
he  knew  from  the  very  fact  that  this 

233 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

Negro  man  owned  nearly  a  block  of  the 
most  valuable  property  in  the  town  that 
he  would  cast  a  safe,  wise  vote  on  this 
important  proposition.  This  white  man 
knew  that,  because  of  this  Negro's  prop 
erty  interests  in  the  city,  he  would  cast 
his  vote  in  the  way  he  thought  would 
benefit  every  white  and  black  citizen  in 
the  town,  and  not  be  controlled  by  in 
fluences  a  thousand  miles  away.  But  a 
short  time  ago  I  read  letters  from  nearly 
every  prominent  white  man  in  Birming 
ham,  Alabama,  asking  that  the  Rev. 
W.  R.  Pettiford,  a  Negro,  be  appointed  to 
a  certain  important  federal  office.  What 
is  the  explanation  of  this?  Mr.  Petti- 
ford  for  nine  years  has  been  the  presi 
dent  of  the  Negro  bank  in  Birmingham 
to  which  I  have  alluded.  During  these 
nine  years  these  white  citizens  have 
had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  that  Mr. 
Pettiford  could  manage  successfully  a 
private  business,  and  that  he  had  proven 
himself  a  conservative,  thoughtful  citi- 

234 


The   Future  of  the  American   Negro 

zen;  and  they  were  willing  to  trust 
him  in  a  public  office.  Such  individ 
ual  examples  will  have  to  be  multi 
plied  until  they  become  the  rule  rather 
than  the  exception.  While  we  are  mul 
tiplying  these  examples,  the  Negro  must 
keep  a  strong  and  courageous  heart. 
He  cannot  improve  his  condition  by 
any  short-cut  course  or  by  artificial 
methods.  Above  all,  he  must  not  be 
deluded  into  the  temptation  of  believ 
ing  that  his  condition  can  be  perma 
nently  improved  by  a  mere  battledore 
and  shuttlecock  of  words  or  by  any 
process  of  mere  mental  gymnastics  or 
oratory  alone.  What  is  desired,  along 
with  a  logical  defence  of  his  cause,  are 
deeds,  results, —  multiplied  results, —  in 
the  direction  of  building  himself  up,  so 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  any 
one  of  his  ability  to  succeed. 

An  important  question  often  asked  is, 
Does  the  white  man  in  the  South  want 
the  Negro  to  improve  his  present  con- 

235 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

dition  ?  I  say,  "  Yes."  From  the  Mont 
gomery  (Alabama)  Daily  Advertiser  I 
clip  the  following  in  reference  to  the 
closing  of  a  coloured  school  in  a  town 
in  Alabama:  — 

•'  Eui'AiTLA,  May  25,  1899. 

44  The  closing  exercises  of  the  city 
coloured  public  school  were  held  at  St. 
Luke's  A.  M.  E.  Church  last  night,  and 
were  witnessed  by  a  large  gathering,  in 
cluding  many  white.  The  recitations 
by  the  pupils  were  excellent,  and  the 
music  was  also  an  interesting  feature. 
Rev.  R.  T.  Pollard  delivered  the  ad 
dress,  which  was  quite  an  able  one;  and 
the  certificates  were  presented  by  Pro 
fessor  T.  L.  McCoy,  white,  of  the  San- 
ford  Street  School.  The  success  of  the 
exercises  reflects  great  credit  on  Pro 
fessor  S.  M.  Murphy,  the  principal,  who 
enjoys  a  deservedly  good  reputation  as 
a  capable  and  efficient  educator." 

I  quote  this  report,  not  because  it  is 
the  exception,  but  because  such  marks 

236 


The  Future  of  the  American   Negro 

of  interest  in  the  education  of  the 
Negro  on  the  part  of  the  Southern 
\vhite  people  can  be  seen  almost  every 
clay  in  the  local  papers.  Why  should 
white  people,  by  their  presence,  words, 
and  many  other  things,  encourage  the 
black  man  to  get  education,  if  they  do 
not  desire  him  to  improve  his  condition  ? 

The  Payne  Institute  in  Augusta, 
Georgia,  *an  excellent  institution,  to 
which  I  have  already  referred,  is  sup 
ported  almost  wholly  by  the  Southern 
white  Methodist  church.  The  South 
ern  white  Presbyterian?  support  a  theo 
logical  school  at  Tuscaloosa,  Alabama, 
for  Negroes.  For  a  number  of  years 
the  Southern  white  Baptists  have  con 
tributed  toward  Negro  education.  Other 
denominations  have  done  the  same.  If 
these  people  do  not  want  the  Negro  ed 
ucated  to  a  high  standard,  there  is  no 
reason  why  they  should  act  the  hypo 
crite  in  these  matters. 

As  barbarous  as  some  of  the  lynch- 

237 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

ings  in  the  South  have  been,  Southern 
white  men  here  and  there,  as  well  as 
newspapers,  have  spoken  out  strongly 
against  lynching.  I  quote  from  the 
address  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Vance,  of 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  delivered  before 
the  National  Sunday  School  Union 
in  Atlanta,  not  long  since,  as  an  ex 
ample  :  — 

14  And  yet,  as  I  stand  here  to-night, 
a  Southerner  speaking  for  my  section, 
and  addressing  an  audience  from  all 
sections,  there  is  one  foul  blot  upon  the 
fair  fame  of  the  South,  at  the  bare  men 
tion  of  which  the  heart  turns  sick  and 
the  cheek  is  crimsoned  with  shame.  I 
want  to  lift  my  voice  to-night  in  loud 
and  long  and  indignant  protest  against 
the  awful  horror  of  mob  violence,  which 
the  other  day  reached  the  climax  of  its 
madness  and  infamy  in  a  deed  as  black 
and  brutal  and  barbarous  as  can  be 
found  in  the  annals  of  human  crime. 

u  I  have  a  right  to  speak  on  the  sub- 
238 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

ject,  and  I  propose  to  be  heard.  The 
time  has  come  for  every  lover  of  the 
South  to  set  the  might  of  an  angered 
and  resolute  manhood  against  the 
shame  and  peril  of  the  lynch  demon. 
These  people,  whose  fiendish  glee 
taunts  their  victim  as  his  flesh  crackles 
in  the  flames,  do  not  represent  the 
South.  I  have  not  a  syllable  of  apol 
ogy  for  the  sickening  crime  they  meant 
to  avenge.  But  it  is  high  time  we  were 
learning  that  lawlessness  is  no  remedy 
for  crime.  For  one,  I  dare  to  believe 
that  the  people  of  my  section  are  able 
to  cope  with  crime,  however  treacher 
ous  and  defiant,  through  their  courts  of 
justice ;  and  I  plead  for  the  masterful 
sway  of  a  righteous  and  exalted  public 
sentiment  that  shall  class  lynch  law  in 
the  category  with  crime." 

It  is  a  notable  and  praiseworthy  fact 
that  no  Negro  educated  in  any  of  our 
larger  institutions  of  learning  in  the 
South  has  been  charged  with  any  of  the 

239 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

recent  crimes  connected  with  assaults 
upon  females. 

If  \ve  go  on  making  progress  in  the 
directions  that  I  have  tried  to  indicate, 
more  and  more  the  South  will  be 
drawn  to  one  course.  As  I  have  already 
said,  it  is  not  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
white  race  of  the  South  that  the  Negro 
be  deprived  of  any  privilege  guaranteed 
him  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  This  would  put  upon  the  * 
South  a  burden  under  which  no  govern 
ment  could  stand  and  prosper.  Every 
article  in  our  federal  Constitution  was 
placed  there  with  a  view  of  stimulating 
and  encouraging  the  highest 'type  of 
citizenship.  To  permanently  tax  the 
Negro  without  giving  him  the  right 
to  vote  as  fast  as  he  qualifies  himself 
in  education  and  property  for  voting 
would  work  the  alienation  of  the  affec 
tions  of  the  Negro  from  the  States  in 
which  he  lives,  and  would  be  the  re 
versal  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 

240 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

government  for  which  our  States  have 
stood.  In  other  ways  than  this  the  in 
jury  would  be  as  great  to  the  white 
man  as  to  the  Negro.  Taxation  with 
out  the  hope  of  becoming  a  voter  would 
take  away  from  one-third  the  citizens  of 
the  Gulf  States  their  interest  in  govern 
ment  and  their  stimulant  to  become  tax 
payers  or  to  secure  education,  and  thus 
be  able  and  willing  to  bear  their  share 
of  the  cost  of  education  and  government, 
which  now  weighs  so  heavily  upon  the 
white  tax -payers  of  the  South.  The 
more  the  Negro  is  stimulated  and  en 
couraged,  the  sooner  will  he  be  able  to 
bear  a  larger  share  of  the  burdens  of 
the  South.  We  have  recently  had  be 
fore  us  an  example,  in  the  case  of 
Spain,  of  a  government  that  left  a  large 
portion  of  its  citizens  in  ignorance,  and 
neglected  their  highest  interests. 

As  I  have  said  elsewhere,  there  is 
no  escape  through  law  of  man  or  God 
from  the  inevitable:  — 

241 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

"The  laws  of  changeless  justice  bind 

Oppressor  with  opprest ; 
And,  close  as  sin  and  suffering  joined, 
We  march  to  fate  abreast." 

"  Nearly  sixteen  millions  of  hands 
will  aid  you  in  pulling  the  load  up 
ward  or  they  will  pull  against  you  the 
load  downward.  We  shall  constitute 
one-third  and  more  of  the  ignorance 
and  crime  of  the  South  or  one-third  its 
intelligence  and  progress.  We  shall 
contribute  one-third  to  the  business  and 
industrial  prosperity  of  the  South  or  we 
shall  prove  a  veritable  body  of  death, 
stagnating,  depressing,  retarding,  every 
effort  to  advance  the  body  politic." 

My  own  feeling  is  that  the  South  will 
gradually  reach  the  point  where  it  will 
see  the  wisdom  and  the  justice  of  enact 
ing  an  educational  or.  property  qualifi 
cation,  or  both,  for  voting,  that  shall  be 
made  to  apply  honestly  to  both  races. 
The  industrial  development  of  the 
Negro  in  connection  with  education 

242 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

and  Christian  character  will  help  to 
hasten  this  end.  When  this  is  done, 
we  shall  have  a  foundation,  in  my  opin 
ion,  upon  which  to  build  a  government 
that  is  honest  and  that  will  be  in  a  high 
degree  satisfactory  to  both  races. 

I  do  not  suffer  myself  to  take  too 
optimistic  a  view  of  the  conditions  in 
the  South.  The  problem  is  a  large  and 
serious  one,  and  will  require  the  patient 
help,  sympathy,  and  advice  of  our  most 
patriotic  citizens,  North  and  South,  for 
years  to  come.  But  I  believe  that,  if 
the  principles  which  I  have  tried  to 
indicate  are  followed,  a  solution  of  the 
question  will  come.  So  long  as  the 
Negro  is  permitted  to  get  education, 
acquire  property,  and  secure  employ 
ment,  and  is  treated  with  respect  in  the 
business  or  commercial  world, —  as  is 
now  true  in  the  greater  part  of  the 
South, —  I  shall  have  the  greatest  faith 
in  his  working  out  his  own  destiny  in 
our  Southern  States.  The  education 


The  Future  of  the  American  Negro 

and  preparing  for  citizenship  of  nearly 
eight  millions  of  people  is  a  tremendous 
task,  and  every  lover  of  humanity  should 
count  it  a  privilege  to  help  in  the  solu 
tion  of  a  great  problem  for  which  our 
whole  country  is  responsible. 


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